Startups

In the first big travel IPO of the year, Kayak's 3.5 million shares will begin trading on Friday morning on the NASDAQ under the symbol KYAK.

Real need to manage photo bloat, lots of startups trying that, see Techcrunch's own "photo" tag for the bloat in the startupland. Jetpac is a travel industry native, and trying something similar in the vertical.

You'd think Kayak might take a more conservative approach on pricing after the Facebook swoon, but a cork-popping $1 billion valuation maybe within Kayak's grasp and it has waited so long for this day.

Not a bad idea by OpenTravel, although it would be ironic if co-sponsor Sabre imparts advice to startups when it has tried to crush at least a couple that stood in its way.

Wanderable's travel-gift registry for honeymooners may be just the ticket: There is a market for newlyweds wanting to travel a different path.

Airbnb likes to say its business is about people. The $97m speaks loudly, though, that this business is definitely about business -- lots and lots of it.

The Kaggle code-writing contests are interesting if the programming geeks don't get ripped off. But, Jetpac's photo-curation algorithm leaves a lot to be desired.

The local deals giant finally put up some good numbers this quarter, but its share price has been battered and it will need to improve relations with local businesses if it wants to stay alive.

Leaving a pet with a stranger may not be ideal, but owners' reluctance to board pets at traditional kennels in order to travel has created an excellent opportunity for companies that can connect owners with trusted watchers.

Pictures are worth 1,000 words and there seems to be that many social travel apps and sites. Most of them feature photo boards and images, and Jetpac is one of the latest entries.