Startups

Switchfly has stepped into a sweet spot for airlines, hotels, and other travel providers with a mix of customer insights and social media tools that help explain behaviors in ways that will help build loyalty.

Addictive startup with a simple concept, would be interesting see how it shapes up and scale, and not get overwhelmed by random notes in high traffic/visited areas. And it could just end up being a feature for Google or Apple to buy in the near future.

Having $1.4 million in funding from SV Angel, Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and Jack Dorsey is a nice start, but the activities market is incredibly tough to crack -- even with nice design and big ambitions.

There's most definitely a need for a smoother airport experience, but breaking in at airports around the country will make Uber's tangle with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission look like a sweet dream.

In a crowded and contested market, SideCar convinced investors that it could play within city regulations and plans to use the funding for legal and operational hires for its city-by-city expansion.

Accel Partners joins existing investors Balderton and Index to back what they see as a better alternative to Airbnb (and all of its clones) in the European market.

If you haven't heard of Trivago yet, you will. The company is big in Europe, and would have to make some real noise at this relatively late stage to stand out in a crowded U.S. market.

Questionable business methods? Getting the man all worked up? Being called disruptive 3 times in one TC article? Whether it succeeds or fails at taxi hailing, Uber’s at least shaking up the system like every startup sets out to do.

It’s clever to create a virtual network of bikes that don’t need to be docked in one place; however, the built-in GPS requires users to have a smartphone, which eliminates half its potential customers.

Concur has plenty of loose change for these types of investments, some of which will pay off by spurring innovation and tighter company-to-company relationships.