Despite the ongoing headwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic, news of travel startups raising money has maintained a steady pace.
The funding has ranged from massive later-stage investments, such as two rounds totaling $345 million for Hopper and two for TripActions totaling $430 million, to a $160 million Series B for Avantstay and Series C rounds of $80 million for Peek and $60 million for Life House. There have also been several instances of Series A and seed funding for startups including Selfbook, Troop, RoomPriceGenie and GuruHotel.
According to Phocuswright manager of research and innovation Mike Coletta, investor confidence in travel came back strong in 2021, with funding reaching 2020’s level of $3.2 billion by the mid-point of the year and growing to $5 billion by Q3 – comparable to the funding for the full year in 2017.
Many founders report their rounds have been oversubscribed, while others that are not pursuing formal fundraising say that, nevertheless, the inbound inquiries from investors are continual. Matthijs Welle, CEO of Mews, says the cloud-based property management solution has been “batting away investors."
Read original article
