Skift Take
— Justin Dawes
A dozen companies involved in the travel industry raised at least $100 million during the first half of 2024. In the same time period last year, there were only two that raised so much.
That reporting – compiled from Skift’s weekly startup funding roundup — aligns with insights from the recent Skift Research report on venture capital. Among multiple trends, the report predicted that there’s an on-going shift toward investment into later-stage companies.
Skift Research also predicts that 2024 will have fewer deals than in 2023, but their larger average size is expected to increase overall funding compared to the record-low of 2023.
A Changing Funding Environment
Venture capital has seen some drastic changes over the last several years.
There was an uptick in funding during the pandemic while interest rates were low. And because it was difficult for travel startups to have strong metrics while people weren’t traveling, a lot of funding went to companies that turned out to have poor business models. Investors have pulled back post-pandemic for a number of reasons, often focusing on safer bets in revenue-generating companies. Meanwhile, startups that are running out of money are forced to close or sell, leading to heavy acquisition activity that analysts expect to continue.
Through the end of June, Skift reporting shows that 94 travel startups raised roughly $2.8 billion. (That excludes Wayve, which raised $1 billion to develop self-driving car tech with plans to sell to ride-hailing companies and other industries.)
During the same time period in 2023, 85 startups raised roughly $1.3 billion. The total in 2023, based on reporting, was estimated at $3.7 billion.
Here is a LinkedIn Live event where Pranavi Agarwal and Aaditya Ugale of Skift Research discuss the topic along with Skift travel tech reporter Justin Dawes.
Startups that have raised at least $100 million through the end of June 2024:
- Bilt Rewards, $200 million: Trading loyalty points from rent payments for travel
- Visit Group, $108.3 million: Software platform for tours and activities operators
- TravelPerk, $104 million: Corporate travel management platform
- Heart Aerospace, $107 million: Developing a hybrid-electric airplane
- Mews, $110 million: Hotel property management system
- Moove, $100 million: Car financing for rideshare drivers
- InDrive, $150 million: Rideshare and delivery
- HysetCo, $212.8 million: Hydrogen-powered vehicles for rental to taxi companies
- Guesty, $130 million: Management platform for short-term rental operators
- Ramp, $150 million: Expense management
- Skyports, $110 million: Airports for flying taxis
- Wayve, $1.05 billion: Self-driving cars, with plans to sell to rideshare and taxi companies
Startups that have raised at least $50 million through the end of June 2024:
Photo Credit: Pictured: A rendering of Heart Aerospace’s hybrid-electric regional airplane, ES-30.