Articles tagged “venture capital”

In top travel stories this week, Skift wrote about a contactless-tech airport terminal, 2022 as the earliest coronavirus recovery, Marriott's CEO talking about hygiene theater, United pointing to its future scaled-down size, and plenty more.

Here's a bright ray of positivity in a gloomy time. Howzat is raising a big fund, and it plans to make roughly half of its investments in travel and transportation startups.

Message delivered: If Airbnb is concerned about the market's rollercoaster ride and the timing of its going public, then Bill Ackman's Pershing — and other special purpose acquisition companies — could take a little of the anxiety out of the process.

Splitty's acquisition of Cancelon's assets is notable because it highlights a seemingly clever way to advertise on travel price-comparison sites. Think of it as "metasearch arbitrage."

Smaller online travel agencies try to make money by grabbing nickels and eurocent coins ahead of the steamrollers of global advertising behemoths. The underreported story of why China's largest travel company acquired a tiny Dutch travel group highlights the phenomenon.

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.

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, once said that it's "only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked." Some of the 57 travel startups worldwide that raised funding in the first months of the year may be about to reveal all.

Silver Lake and Sixth Street likely got a very attractive deal in exchange for their investment.

Travel is a long-term megatrend because all across the globe people appreciate the value that it brings to their lives. This holds true across a vast range of human differences — cultural, geographical, religious, historical, generational, and more.

Airbnb will likely have no trouble raising money, assuming the valuation and terms are palatable to investors, but it's dubious that they will chip in a few hundred million dollars each based on the supposedly inherent advantages of Airbnb's product.