Startups

HotelOnline, which is based in Kenya and has more than 6,000 hotel clients for its software, has acquired HotelPlus, a provider of hotel software to 2,200 clients in East Africa,…

Map Happy, a news-you-can-use, consumer travel site run by co-founder and CEO Erica Ho, has joined Penske Media as part of its SHE Media network of voicey content brands, such…

Guesty, which makes software for managing short-term rentals and other travel lodging, said on Tuesday it had raised $170 million in a Series E round of funding.

Skipper, a hospitality tech startup that offers direct booking tools for hotels, came out of stealth on Friday with a $5.8 million seed round. 

Inspirato, a Denver-based travel startup, said that it generated $36 million in subscription travel revenue in the second quarter — up by half year-over-year. The company's full quarterly revenue was $84 million. 

Boatsetter, which offers more than 50,000 personal watercraft for rental along with activities like wakeboarding, said on Monday it had raised $38 million in Series B funding.

Subscriptions are ubiquitous in nearly every industry other than travel. Why the disconnect? The time is right for building paid travel subscriptions, powered by shifts in traveler priorities and work-life flexibility. Learn how to build travel memberships by analyzing three innovative case studies in this latest research report.

In a quiet week for travel tech fundraising, highlights include a 3 million pound crowdfunding for a service that lets consumers rent a yacht to feel like, well, a yacht owner. Slowing venture capital returns may be a caution flag for deals later this year.

A London startup is betting that travelers will take mystery vacations, learning their destinations at the airport. A Czech travel agency raises $100 million for expansion. And other venture capital and funding news this week.

The air travel aggregator is likely to get a $1 billion valuation in a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. But its disclosures are thin, and paint something less than a picture of certain success.