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– Justin Dawes
Four travel tech startups raised $29 million in venture capital this week.
>>Bacha bachelorette party planning and booking platform, has raised $9 million in Series A funding. It was led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital, with participation from Corazon Capital, Freestyle VC, Oversubscribed Ventures and others.
The app makes it easy to search and book local experiences and includes features aimed at making group travel easier, including group chat, expense sharing, voting and itinerary creation.
The Philadelphia-based company currently facilitates parties in a dozen US cities, including Nashville, Las Vegas, Miami and New Orleans, with plans to have 30 cities in its portfolio in the coming weeks.
The company now has more than 1,600 experiences booked on its platform, with plans to increase that number to 3,000 this year.
The startup has facilitated nearly 500,000 parties and said it is on track to facilitate one in five singles traveling in the US this year.
The company quadrupled revenue growth in 2022 compared to a year earlier, it said.
“Bach is having a real impact on the retailers the company partners with. Millennial travel is a huge opportunity and the future of travel, especially group travel, is changing quickly,” said Sonia Nagar, partner at Pritzker Group Venture Capital, in a statement. “Even though group travel is a $200 billion market, it remains challenging for consumers to coordinate in most cases. Not only is Bach proving it can be the market leader and own the singles vertical, but in doing so, it’s also building the foundation to naturally unlock group travel at large.”
Bach started as an app only, but will have a booking website available next month.
>>People of the countrya short-term rental platform founded by Airbnb veterans, has raised $4 million (€3.8 million) in seed funding from Seed Capital.
The startup’s portfolio has grown to more than 1,000 homes and cabins in Denmark, Norway and Germany since it was founded two years ago. The plan is to double this number this year.
Landfolk was founded in Denmark by seven people, all former Airbnb employees.
Only 60 percent of homeowners applicants are accepted, with the goal of maintaining consistently high standards
Landfolk said 70 percent of homes on the platform have either never been rented out or have not been rented out on other platforms, indicating that the startup has found a gap in the market in that region.
“It’s really exciting to see Landfolk shake up an industry that has been stagnant for a long time. They have managed to create a company in just two years with impressive turnover, expanding, among other things, the market with a segment that has never rented their holiday home before and a team that manages to execute like few others”, said Ulla. Brockenhuus-Schack, managing partner of Seed Capital, in a statement.
The investment will go towards product development for easier interaction with homeowners as well as travelers.
>>cara Saudi Arabia-based flight booking platform, has raised $8 million (30 million Saudi riyals), led by Shaddadi Information Technology Company.
In addition to the booking platform, the company offers software platforms to help tour companies manage operations.
The company was co-founded by Abdulaziz Al Harthy in 2018.
>>Experiences of the captain, a booking platform for fishing charters and other outdoor sports guides, has raised $2 million. The round was led by Bullish, with participation from other new and existing investors.
Since the Texas-based startup was founded in 2020, it has partnered with more than 1,200 verified guides and booked more than 47,000 hours of outdoor experiences.
The funding will go toward growth in the fishing charter industry across the U.S. and beyond, with plans to expand hunting guides that began last fall in Texas.
>>The wheel of the world, a booking platform for travelers with disabilities, has raised $6 million in pre-Series A funding led by Kayak Ventures. (See Skift story.)
>>Tryp.com, a Denmark-based startup booking platform, raised a largely undisclosed seed round from individual investors. The startup said the round values the company at €8.3 million ($8.8 million).
| company | phase | leaden | LODGING |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bach | Series A | Pritzker Group Venture Capital | 9 million dollars |
| People of the country | seed | Initial capital | 4 million dollars |
| car | seed | Shaddadi Information Technology Company | 8 million dollars |
| Experiences of the captain | Unspecified | wave | 2 million dollars |
| The wheel of the world | Pre-Serie A | Kayak Enterprises | 6 million dollars |
Shift Cheat Sheet
Seed capital is money used to start a business, often led by angel investors and friends or family.
Series A funding is usually obtained from venture capitalists. The round aims to help startup founders make sure their product is something customers really want to buy.
Series B financing is mostly about venture capital firms helping a company grow faster. These fundraising rounds can help recruit qualified workers and develop cost-effective marketing.
Series C financing is usually about helping a company expand, such as through purchases. In addition to VCs, hedge funds, investment banks and private equity firms often participate.
Series D, E and beyond These mostly mature businesses and funding rounds can help a company prepare to go public or be acquired. A variety of types of private investors can participate.
Photo Credit: Through the Bach app, travelers can book a tour of New Orleans’ French Quarter.
