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Despite increasingly negative economic forecasts, travel tech startups have raised billions of dollars in 2022.
Justin Dawes
Skift continued to monitor which travel tech startups raised funding throughout much of 2022.
Those related to short-term rentals raised funds most frequently, but there were also various other startups raising venture capital throughout the year, despite the weakening economic forecast.
Below is an alphabetical overview of the most interesting travel tech startups funded in 2022.
>>trading engine raised $5.3 million, which isn’t a lot compared to other companies on this list, but the Miami-based startup has a notorious headache for airlines and their customers. is working on It’s a flight change after booking. Historically, airlines contracted with expensive call centers to handle many of their customer change requests, a problem that became excruciating during the pandemic.
Volaris told Skift that it would start the process with Saber’s software, but that only covered about half of the problems, with the rest historically routed to call centers. Today, less than 10% of post-booking calls should be sent to a call center.
>>GordianY Combinator alumnus has raised $25 million to help airlines upsell. This technology is used to encourage travelers who purchase airline tickets to pay for extras such as seat selection and checked baggage.
Airlines often don’t get upsells on their online channels because their agents don’t offer upsells, so profits flow directly into the bottom line. As a result, typically bureaucratic carriers have found ways to prioritize integration.
Gordian reported in July that it has over 100 online travel agencies and sites as customers. It also said it was operating at 15 times its 2019 revenue.
>>hopper Added $96 million to investment from Capital One and announced long-term partnership with bank. This online travel agency has raised a total of $730 million.
Hopper powers Capital One Travel, and Hopper also offers a range of fintech products, including flight and hotel price freezes, for many other partners. Hopper says much of its revenue comes from its own fintech products.
Citing figures from the Marketing Information Data Tapes, Hopper claims to be the third largest online travel agency in North America, accounting for 11.2% of US third-party flight bookings.
>>museis a UK-based hotel tech startup that has raised $185 million led by Kinnevik and Goldman Sachs. That’s a figure above typical venture capital funding for that industry, and it was particularly impressive during the economic uncertainty that has caused venture capital firms to hold on to a bit of funding.
Mews offers a variety of cloud-based solutions for hotels including property management, guest management and new payment systems. All of this is designed on an open system that allows hotels to connect their products with others.
The company plans to expand geographically with a greater focus on the mid-market segment. Mews will also continue to acquire other hotel tech companies.
>>Rapidehas raised $180 million for its taxi service that uses motorbikes instead of cars. The company operates in his 100 cities across India. Investors included his Swiggy, an Indian online food ordering and delivery platform.
In April, the platform reported 450,000 monthly active drivers and over 300 million total orders.
>>resort pass has raised $26 million from investors including celebrities Jessica Alba and Gwyneth Paltrow for a platform that will give hotels access to all-new revenue streams.
The ResortPass customer software platform markets the availability of hotel amenities (spas, pools, fitness centers, conference rooms, etc.) and allows guests to use them during the day without having to book a stay. The company also provides hotel clients with a software platform to manage their business on the back end.
The startup has partnered with over 900 hotels, including brands such as Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Westin, Fairmont, W Hotels and Hyatt Hotels. Before the pandemic, the startup had around 100 hotel partners.
>>travel parkThe Barcelona-based business traveler-focused travel management agency has raised $115 million.
The startup’s board of directors, founded by Booking.com veterans, also includes Gillian Tans, former chairman and CEO of the online travel agency giant.
TravePerk said it offers an all-in-one platform for business travelers, from booking to trip management. The agency is focused on offering more sustainable travel options and is also enhancing event tools to help bring remote and hybrid teams together.
Bonus
- Kyte has raised $60 million from investors including Goldman Sachs for an on-demand car rental service that includes doorstep delivery.
- Volantio, an airline-focused optimization startup, has raised $6 million from companies including DiamondStream Partners, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue and Amadeus.
- Sensible Weather has raised $4 million for a platform focused on compensating travel experiences, especially for travelers adversely affected by bad weather.
Of course, there have been many short-term rental platforms and software companies that have raised capital this year.
