Skift Take
Justin Dawes
Twelve travel companies have raised at least $100 million in the first half of 2024, compared with just two companies that raised that amount during the same period last year.
The report, compiled from Skift’s weekly startup funding roundup, coincides with insights from a recent Skift Research report on venture capital, which predicted an ongoing shift toward investing in later-stage companies, among several other trends.
Skift Research also predicts that the number of deals in 2024 will be lower than in 2023, but the larger average size is expected to increase overall fundraising compared to 2023, which was the lowest on record.
The changing fundraising environment
Venture capital has undergone dramatic changes over the past few years.
Funding increased during the pandemic because interest rates were low. And because it was hard for travel startups to have strong metrics while people weren’t traveling, a lot of the money went to companies that proved to have weak business models. Investors have pulled back after the pandemic for a variety of reasons, focusing on safer investments in revenue-generating companies. Meanwhile, startups that ran out of cash have been forced to close or sell, leading analysts to expect more acquisition activity.
According to a Skift report, 94 travel startups had raised roughly $2.8 billion by the end of June (that doesn’t include Wayve, which has raised $1 billion to develop self-driving car technology that it plans to sell to ride-hailing companies and other industries).
For the same period in 2023, 85 startups have raised approximately $1.3 billion. The total for 2023 is estimated to be $3.7 billion, according to the report.
Here’s a LinkedIn Live event where Pranavi Agarwal and Aaditya Ugale from Skift Research discuss this topic with Justin Dawes, travel tech reporter at Skift.
Startups that have raised at least $100 million by the end of June 2024:
- Built Rewards, $200 million: Allows people to redeem loyalty points from rent payments for travel
- Visit Group, $108.3 million: software platform for tour and activity operators
- TravelPerk, $104 million: corporate travel management platform
- Hart Aerospace, $107 million: Developing hybrid-electric aircraft
- Mews, $110 million: hotel property management system
- Moove, $100 million: car loans for rideshare drivers
- InDrive, $150 million: ride-sharing and delivery
- HysetCo, $212.8 million: Hydrogen-fueled vehicles for rental to taxi companies
- Guesty, $130 million: A management platform for short-term rental businesses
- RAMP, $150 million: Expense management
- Skyport, $110 million: an airport for flying taxis
- Wayve, $1.05 billion: Plans to sell self-driving cars to ride-sharing and taxi companies
Startups that have raised at least $50 million by the end of June 2024:
Photo credit: Pictured is a rendering of Hart Aerospace’s ES-30 hybrid-electric regional aircraft.
