Travel Startup Funding This Week

Skift Take

There’s a theme here: short-term rentals. All the startups funded this week aim to make bookings and operations easier in some way for vacation rental owners and operators – another sign of a strong and growing industry.

Justin Dawes

Travel startups announced nearly $159 million in funding over the last two weeks. 

>> Holidu, a Munich-based vacation rental software company, has raised a series E oversubscribed round of $97.9 million, led by previous investor 83North. That includes $24.4 million of venture debt. 

The company said that its revenue grew 100% in 2021 from the previous year. Revenues of subsidiary Bookiply now accounts for more than half of HolidU revenues, having grown 13-fold from 2019 to 2022. 

Bookiply is meant to help single property owners generate more bookings. The number of homes managed through Bookiply has grown from 5,000 to nearly 20,000 over the past three years. Bookiply acquired two other German travel software companies earlier this year: Lohospo and my.IRS.

The funding will be used to accelerate Holidu’s and Bookiply’s expansion in Germany and Europe. 

“We will now scale our region-by-region approach into Europe’s large and attractive hosting market,” said Johannes Siebers, Holidu co-founder and CEO, in a statement. 

The company raised $45 million last year. 

>> Banyan has raised a Series A round of $43 million in equity and venture debt led by Fin Capital and M13. 

The New Jersey-based company’s software is meant to streamline the transfer of information between retail and financial institutions. For companies with business travelers, the software can help integrate purchase receipts into expense management provider apps, removing the need for business travelers to manage cumbersome expense reports.  

Janey Whiteside, former chief customer officer for Walmart, joined the board. 

>>  Breezeway has raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Catalyst Investors, with participation from previous investor Schooner Capital.

The Boston-based company’s software is used to help short-term rental hosts streamline property prep tasks. Founded in 2017, the company said it has thousands of users in more than 65 countries.

>> RootRez $1.8M in seed funding, led by GW Capital and Peak Capital Partners.

The Salt Lake City startup works by helping travel and events websites connect travelers to lodging partners, powered with access to live rates and availability through multiple global distribution systems and channel managers. Reservations pass directly from the destination website to lodging partners. 

>> Pinktada has raised nearly $1 million from Selenean Capital.

The early-stage startup allows users to swap or sell a room reservation on an online marketplace if their plans change. Guests can use the platform to take a virtual room tour before booking. Pinktada was founded earlier this year and is based in Houston. 

Skift Cheat Sheet

Seed capital is money used to start a business, often led by angel investors and friends or family.

Series A financing is typically drawn from venture capitalists. The round aims to help a startup’s founders make sure that their product is something that customers truly want to buy.

Series B financing is mainly about venture capitalist firms helping a company grow faster. These fundraising rounds can assist in recruiting skilled workers and developing cost-effective marketing.

Series C financing is ordinarily about helping a company expand, such as through acquisitions. In addition to VCs, hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity firms often participate.

Series D, E, and, beyond These mainly mature businesses and the funding round may help a company prepare to go public or be acquired. A variety of types of private investors might participate.