Articles tagged “thayer ventures”

Subscriptions look set to be big business, with the needle currently swinging to higher quality holidays and experiences.

Airbus-backed Blade thinks Asia is where the action is, with plans to expand there after this latest blank-check deal. Keep an eye on similar so-called SPAC deals in travel in the new year.

Two blank-check outfits that will try to buy something in travel later debuted on the stock market this week. No Airbnb-style IPO pops, however, because no one knows what the acquirers might score in the travel sector.

This is now the third "blank check" company in three months to say it will buy and invest in travel companies. The sudden spike in such financial innovation underscores investor faith that the travel sector offers many bargains and promising opportunities right now.

Expect investments in travel startups to hit their lowest levels in total amounts since the global financial crisis a decade ago. But when less capital is chasing deals, persistent venture capital firms may have a better shot at nurturing long-term bets.

To understand the startup Beekeeper, think of workplace communications tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams. The service helps hourly workers without desktop computers, such as housekeepers, stay up-to-date. The fresh funding underscores a recent boom in hotel tech investment.

Redeam doesn't recommend places to visit, call itself "a Facebook for travel", or indulge in other startup pitch clichés. It strives instead to build a solution to a pain point companies will pay to fix — namely, automating paper voucher redemptions for attractions. How refreshingly uncool.

Despite the recent attempts at corporate venture capital by JetBlue, Booking.com, and other big players, many travel companies prefer to invest in startups via traditional venture funds instead.

If anyone could predict what's in the pipeline for the hospitality industry, it'd be Lee Pillsbury. But the pace of innovation today means that his venture fund is also in search mode to find what the next Hilton or Expedia will be.