Guesty — which has built a platform for accommodation managers to manage all aspects of their business on platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo and directly to travellers — has raised $130 million.
Guesty’s close competitor Hostaway raised $175 million in May last year (its first ever big funding round).
And Mews, which like Guesty builds SaaS but for hoteliers, raised $110 million at a $1.2 billion valuation last month (March 2024).
First of all, Guesty wants to continue expanding its existing platform for current customers.
Third of all, Soto said that Guesty wants to consider more acquisitions.
And Manish wrote about the resignation of Stability AI founder and CEO Emad Mostaque late last week.
AI-powered itineraries: In an upgrade to its Search Generative Experience, Google has added the ability for users to ask Google Search to plan a travel itinerary.
Using AI, Search will draw on ideas from websites around the web along with reviews, photos and other details.
Robinhood’s new card: Nine months after acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million, Robinhood on Wednesday announced the launch of its new Gold Card, powered by X1’s technology, with a list of features that could make Apple Card users envious.
Bonus roundSpotify tests online learning: In its ongoing efforts to get its 600 million+ users to spend more time and money on its platform, Spotify is spinning up a new line of content: e-learning.
First up, Google is rolling out an update to its Search Generative Experience (SGE) that will allow users to build travel itineraries and trip ideas using AI, the company announced on Wednesday.
For now, the itineraries are just that: no options to buy and services or experiences on the spot.
But it points to how the company is experimenting with how and where it can apply its AI engine.
A lot of players in the travel industry may be eyeing up the role that generative AI will play in travel services in the coming years — some excitedly, some warily.
Google also announced that it’s making it easier to discover lists of recommendations in Google Maps in select cities in the U.S. and Canada.
The company has crafted an interesting distribution strategy for travel eSIM cards and simplified the experience as eSIM remains a confusing technology for most people.
Thanks to eSIM, the experience is much better — or at least on paper because the eSIM industry is a bit confusing.
For instance, if you’re traveling to Argentina, you might search for the best option for a travel eSIM before heading to the airport.
Kolet’s first travel partners are professional travel agency Resaneo and air ticket booking platform Ulysse.
It has also asked some travel industry experts to become advisors for the startup.
As remote work becomes increasingly prevalent, organizations globally are adapting, especially regarding onboarding procedures for new employees and navigating cross-border payment complexities.
RemotePass, one such business out of the UAE, has raised $5.5 million in Series A funding led by New York-based 212 VC.
CEO Kamal Reggad and Karim Nadi founded RemotePass in late 2020 to allow businesses to onboard, manage and pay their talent base in countries where they lack local legal presence.
Several companies are actively facilitating remote work and aiding employees in receiving payments from employers.
“Addressing today’s workforce challenges like talent mobility and remote work, RemotePass stands out as a key enabler.
For co-founder and CEO Dayo Esho, the idea for TravelJoy emerged from his experiences growing up in the travel industry, supporting his mom’s travel agency business.
The co-founders began working TravelJoy in 2018, while participating in NFX’s accelerator.
The company also recently added integrations with travel insurance provider Faye and Viator, a marketplace for travel experiences.
The idea is to centralize the travel entrepreneur’s workflow, with CRM, messaging, invoicing, payments, proposals, itineraries, and group trip management in one digital solution.
Despite the pandemic’s massive and immediate impact on global travel, TravelJoy surprisingly didn’t shut down.
TravelPerk, a business travel management platform targeted at SMEs, has raised $105 million in a fresh equity-based round of financing led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.
“In today’s climate, where startup funding is down by half and valuations are down across the board, this is a healthy and sober valuation,” Meir told TechCrunch.
Well-traveledFounded in 2015, Barcelona-based TravelPerk sells an all-in-one platform for companies to book, manage, and report all their domestic and international travel.
Customers can also extend the platform through integrations with expense management systems like Spendesk and HR software such as HiBob.
“[An] IPO has never been an objective per se for TravelPerk,” Meir said.
Korea’s Myrealtrip cashes in on travel rebound with $56M in new fundingMyrealtrip is the latest travel tech company to ride a growing post-pandemic tourism industry.
“The travel industry was fragmented 12 years ago in South Korea, and there was no platform that provided travel information,” CEO of Myrealtrip Donggun Lee said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch.
Myrealtrip acquired Startrip in 2022 to capture the number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea post-pandemic.
This travel platform lets users discover and book Korean-pop (K-pop) themed spots, including popular boy band BTS music video filming locations.
Myrealtrip also invested in IwaTrip, a Korean travel platform that helps users find available spots to travel with kids, and O-Peace, a co-working and co-living space platform designed for digital nomads workers.
Frequent travelers who want to track their trips and reminisce about their favorite spots and travel memories now have a new app to do so.
Globetrotter is today introducing a location-based travel photos app that lets you look back on your past travels and share your memories and stats out to other social apps, like Instagram and others.
In addition to sharing your travel highlights and looking back on past trips, Globetrotter also has a feature called “2023 Wrapped,” which leverages the popularity of Spotify Wrapped to showcase your travels for the year, in a similar “year in review” format.
He said the idea of building a travel app appealed to him because he also enjoys taking photos on his trips and wanted a way to look back at his past travels in a new way.
The app includes a social element, too, where you can add friends and then compete on a travel leaderboard which shows your statistics.
If you’re looking for a way to cut down on your travel costs, Google has some new features that could be right up your alley. The company is piloting a…
