Although it suffered tremendously during the pandemic, the travel industry keeps going forwards. In 2020, the entire sector lost more than 60 million jobs and $4.5 trillion. However, it’s coming back to its feet, and some projections indicate that it will again become one of the fastest-growing sectors. It’s expected to reach a market size of $1.5 trillion and a growth rate of 8.5% by 2027.
One reason for such incredibly fast recuperation is travel tech. There are hundreds of innovative travel tech companies focused on delivering powerful solutions to help travel companies achieve operational excellence, generate new revenue streams, and stay above the fold even during the most challenging times.
Here is the list of the most innovative travel tech startups you should know in 2022.
| Name | Country | Product | Stage | Year of foundation | Funds raised |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo | Asia | eSIMs | Series A | 2019 | $7.3 million |
| TravelFlan | Asia | Inventory aggregator and more AI products | Series A | 2015 | $7 million |
| Yanolja | Asia | Mobile app for hotel reservations | Venture Capital – Series Unknown | 2005 | $1.9 billion |
| Bespoke | Asia | AI-enabled chatbot | Series B | 2015 | $2.6 million |
| H2O Hospitality | Asia | Automation platform for accommodation facilities management | Series C | 2015 | $48.9 million |
| Hotelmize | Middle East | Fully-automated solution for hotel wholesalers’ profits optimization | Series B | 2016 | Not disclosed |
| UpStay | Middle East | Upselling platform | Pre-Seed | 2019 | $1 million |
| ekar | Middle East | Geo-location and mobile-based car rental service | Series B | 2016 | $17.5 million |
| ReTravel | Middle East | ML-powered retention marketing platform | Pre-Seed | 2020 | N/A |
| Guesty | Middle East | Automated property management solution | Series E | 2013 | $284.5 million |
| Air Doctor | Middle East | Platform connecting travelers with medical services providers | Series B | 2016 | $30.9 million |
| SafetyWing | America | Insurtech-powered medical and health insurance for travelers | Series B | 2017 | $47.1 million |
| Mogul Hospitality | America | Recruitment and brand image optimization platform for travel and hospitality brands | Seed | 2019 | $3.1 million |
| Hopper | America | Travel app with personalized and affordable recommendations | Secondary Market | 2007 | $633.7 million |
| Tentrr | America | Platform that connects private landowners and travelers | Seed | 2015 | $17.8 million |
| Snaptravel | America | AI-powered travel and accommodation recommendation service for price-conscious travelers | Series B | 2016 | $101.4 million |
| Travel Perk | Europe | Platform for business travel booking and management | Series D | 2015 | $408.2 million |
| 123Compare.me | Europe | SaaS conversion rate optimization solution | Pre-seed | 2017 | $250,000 |
| Lodgify | Europe | SaaS platform for vacation rental product marketing | Series A | 2012 | $6.6 million |
| Questo | Europe | Mobile app and engaging city exploration games | Seed | 2017 | $1.8 million |
| The Hotels Network | Europe | Platform for personalizing online booking journeys | Series B | 2015 | $15.2 million |
| TripYeah | LATAM | AI-based travel meta optimizer | Seed | 2020 | $14 million |
| TravelX | LATAM | Blockchain-based distribution protocol | Seed | 2021 | $10 million |
| Rappi Travel | LATAM | Mobile flight and destination booking app | Series E | 2020 | $2.2 billion |
| Onfly | LATAM | Travel expense, credit card, business travel management solution | Seed | 2019 | $390,000 |
| Arrivedo | LATAM | Curated engaging content for travelers | Seed | 2015 | $3.9 million |
| Pinguim | LATAM | AI-powered mobile app for discovering like-minded travelers | Seed | 2019 | $195,000 |
| Local Adventures | LATAM | Platform for trip discovery, planning, and booking | Seed | 2016 | N/A |
Contents
Asian travel tech startups
The Asian travel tech startup market is quite dynamic, with new startups emerging regularly. We’ve found the following five startups to be the most innovative.
Airalo
Website: https://www.airalo.com/
Product/service description: Airalo is a travel tech startup that offers eSIMs. eSIMs are a great alternative to SIM cards, and they are supported by cutting-edge smartphones. The company’s offer currently includes over 190 eSIMs cards.
Stage: Series A
Year of foundation: 2019
Founders: Abraham Burak and Ahmet Bahadır Özdemir
Funds raised: $7.3M
Why have we included it in the list?
Airalo has secured its position on our list because it enables people to easily stay connected when traveling without spending a fortune on high roaming bills. It offers dedicated apps for both Android and iPhone users.
TravelFlan
Website: www.travelflan.com
Product/service description: TravelFlan is a comprehensive platform leveraging cutting-edge tech, including AI and Big Data, to deliver outstanding experiences to travelers and travel companies.
Stage: Series A
Year of foundation: 2015
Founders: Abel Zhao
Funds raised: $7 million
Why have we included it in the list?
We included TravelFlan on our list because it’s a great example of a small team being able to achieve a lot. In just a few years, the startup delivered an inventory aggregator and processor, a big data analytical engine, a supply chain and inventory management system, and a voice- and text-based AI personal concierge.
Yanolja
Website: www.yanolja.in/ko/
Product/service description: Yanolja is one of the most successful travel tech startups in Asia. It delivers an easy-to-use mobile app for hotel reservations. The company uses AI and VR to delight its users.
Stage: Venture – Series Unknown
Year of foundation: 2005
Founders: Lee Sujin
Funds raised: $1.9 billion
Why have we included it in the list?
Yanolja is on our list because the company continues to seek new solutions beyond mobility tech to help the travel industry move forward. The most recent Yanolja strategy was to leverage IoT to create a cloud-based hotel management solution.
Bespoke
Website: www.be-spoke.io
Product/service description: Bespoke is a startup focused on leveraging AI to deliver a powerful chatbot to travelers. The chatbot can make reservations, offer personalized recommendations, and answer many questions.
Stage: Series B
Year of foundation: 2015
Founders: Akemi Tsunagawa
Funds raised: $2.6 million
Why have we included it in the list?
Bespoke is one of the best AI-enabled chatbots with multilingual capabilities in the travel sector. The startup even enabled the Japanese government to use it during the pandemic to deliver critical information to travelers and residents.
H2O Hospitality
Website: www.h2ojapan.co.jp
Product/service description: H2O Hospitality is among a few startups that have successfully built an in-house automation solution to streamline the management of accommodation facilities.
Stage: Series C
Year of foundation: 2015
Founders: John Lee
Funds raised: $48.9 million
Why have we included it in the list?
What we love about this startup’s tech is that it’s capable of automating all processes through a PMS without any additional human resources on site. That enables the startup to guarantee lowered operational costs.
Middle East travel tech startups
There are a dozen Middle East-based travel tech startups, especially in Israel. You can find the most innovative ones below.
Hotelmize
Website: www.hotelmize.com
Product/service description: Hotelmize offers profit optimization solutions to facilitate higher profits. Using big data enables hotel booking businesses and hotel resellers to easily manage post-booking revenue and become more competitive in their markets.
Stage: Series B
Year of foundation: 2016
Founders: Dor Krubiner, Guy Levitan, and Omry Litvak
Funds raised: $4.4 million
Why have we included it in the list?
Hotelmize is on our list because it helped revolutionize revenue management as we know it. Instead of optimizing the selling-side and pre-booking processes, it enables companies to do buy-side and post-booking revenue management.
UpStay
Website: www.upstay.tech
Product/service description: UpStay offers hotels a new way to generate additional revenue streams. This easy-to-adopt upselling platform enables hotels to capture more pre-arrival sales, including additional ancillaries and room upgrades.
Stage: Pre-Seed
Year of foundation: 2019
Founders: Tzafrir Blonder
Funds raised: $1 million
Why have we included it in the list?
UpStay doesn’t only unlock new revenue streams, but it’s also completely automated. The staff doesn’t have to do anything, as UpStay works in the background of the existing hotel system. More importantly, it ships out with support for Channel Manager, Booking Engine, and PMS integration.
ekar
Website: www.ekar.ae
Product/service description: ekar is a revolutionized car rental service. Using geo-location and other advanced mobile technologies, ekar delivered an app that enables travelers to benefit from a daily car rental service.
Stage: Series B
Year of foundation: 2016
Founders: Ravi Bhusari and Vilhelm Hedberg
Funds raised: $17.5 million
Why have we included it in the list?
We included ekar in our list because it uses the latest tech to enable travelers to book and access cars for personal driving use safely and securely. Every car in their network is equipped with tech that enables travelers to unlock and lock them with their smartphones.
Guesty
Website: www.guesty.com
Product/service description: While Guesty started small back in 2013, today, it’s one of the world’s leading property management solutions. The platform comes with easy-to-use features to enable property managers to streamline and automate their processes.
Stage: Series E
Year of foundation: 2013
Founders: Amiad Soto and Koby Soto
Funds raised: $284.5 million
Why have we included it in the list?
Guesty is on our list because it is the first end-to-end property management solution for short-term rentals. The company successfully delivers all the nifty features, such as a unified inbox to help managers streamline bookings and check-in & check-out date management.
ReTravel
Website: www.reTravel.io
Product/service description: ReTravel is a startup aiming to help travel agencies with their upselling and cross-selling efforts. The startup’s marketplace features everything a travel company needs to personalize its offer and attract more travelers.
Stage: Pre-Seed
Year of foundation: 2020
Founders: Nir Gurevich and Revital Kristal
Funds raised: N/A
Why have we included it in the list?
We added ReTravel to our list because it uses modern technologies such as AI and ML and delivers a solution that travel companies of any size can afford. The level of personalization goes so far that the platform can offer the right product to the right customer via the perfect channel.
Air Doctor
Website: www.air-dr.com
Product/service description: Air Doctor is a connection technology that enables travelers to find and use medical services wherever they are. The company offers its services online, thus enabling anyone who wants to use them to do it on the go as long as they have an internet connection.
Stage: Series B
Year of foundation: 2016
Founders: Efrat Sagi Ofir, Jenny Cohen Derfler, Yam Derfler, and Yegor Kurbachev
Funds raised: $30.9 million
Why have we included it in the list?
While Air Doctor doesn’t use cutting-edge technologies, it does provide innovative perks to travelers. Given that travelers are more concerned about their health after the Covid pandemic, Air Doctor’s vast medical network of physicians can encourage travelers to book packages and be more relaxed.
American travel tech startups
The American travel tech startup scene doesn’t fall behind its Asian and Middle East counterparts. The market is quite diverse, with startups leveraging tech to achieve all sorts of objectives. Here are the top five travel tech startups in North America.
SafetyWing
Website: http://www.safetywing.com/
Product/service description: This is one of the unique tech travel startups, more precisely, insurtech travel startups. SafetyWing specializes in providing health and medical insurance to remote individuals and businesses.
Stage: Series B
Year of foundation: 2017
Founders: Hans Nyvold Kjellby, Lona Alia, Sarah Beyahte Sandnes, and Sondre Rasch
Funds raised: $47.1 million
Why have we included it in the list?
This innovative insurtech startup has reserved its spot on our list of travel tech startups because it creates freedom for travelers. Its innovative approach to travel insurance enables travelers across borders to get travel and medical incident insurance even while abroad.
Mogul Hospitality
Website: https://www.mogulhospitality.com/
Product/service description: Mogul Hospitality is a next-gen platform to enable companies to easily identify and contact top talent in the industry. Its focus is on enabling travel and hospitality brands to build trust and thrive on the unique values they offer to their clients.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2019
Founders: Alexander Mirza and Yvonne Choi
Funds raised: $3.1 million
Why have we included it in the list?
We’ve added Mogul Hospitality to the list because it packs some really powerful features, including talent acquisition and data analytics, service profit chain management tools, and experiential training and learning platform.
Hopper
Website: www.hopper.com
Product/service description: Hopper is a travel tech startup that came up with the travel app. The app uses big data and predictive analytics to make relevant and affordable travel recommendations to its users.
Stage: Secondary Market
Year of foundation: 2007
Founders: Frederic Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk
Funds raised: $633.7 million
Why have we included it in the list?
Hopper is a perfect example of a well-aged travel tech startup. We added it to our list because they were among the first startups to recognize the value of big data and the future of smartphones. Today Hopper mobile app helps thousands of travelers worldwide to find the best hotel and flight deals.
Tentrr
Website: https://www.tentrr.com/
Product/service description: Tentrr is one of the few travel tech startups that truly revolutionized how people interact with campsite-related travel products without reinventing the wheel. Tech-wise, the company uses a simple website with advanced location-based search functionality. It enables people to book campsites on private land.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2015
Founders: Eloise Bune and Michael D’Agostino
Funds raised: $17.8 million
Why have we included it in the list?
While Tentrr doesn’t use new tech, we added it to our list because it revolutionized the campsite booking process. By enabling landowners to interact directly with travelers, Tentrr successfully facilitated local economic growth throughout the country, secured new revenue streams for landowners, and promoted natural locations.
Snaptravel
Website: www.snaptravel.com
Product/service description: Snaptravel is a travel tech startup that built its solution around AI. Their platform leverages AI to identify relevant, affordable hotels and flights for every traveler. Snaptravel’s price-conscious users can also use the platform to book accommodations and transport.
Stage: Series B
Year of foundation: 2016
Founders: Henry Shi and Hussein Fazal
Funds raised: $101.4 million
Why have we included it in the list?
Snaptravel is an excellent example of how a travel tech startup can create astonishing results when thinking out of the box. In fact, Snaptravel used its message-driven platform to create Snapcommerce, which is a platform that enables users to find the products they need at the most affordable prices.
European travel tech startups
The European travel tech startup market is blooming. There are dozens of startups in this niche offering a wide range of solutions to companies in the sector. The following five emerge as the top ones when it comes to innovation.
Travel Perk
Website: www.travelperk.com
Product/service description: The team at Travel Perk has come up with a comprehensive platform for business travel booking and management. This startup, with headquarters based in Barcelona, offers an end-to-end solution for the business travel needs of any company.
Stage: Series-D
Year of foundation: 2015
Founders: Avi Meir, Javier Suarez, Ron Levin
Funds raised: $408.2 million
Why have we included it in the list?
It’s great to have a platform that allows you to book and manage business travel – and Travel Perk does it in a very convenient and intuitive way offering deep insights into travel spending. It also allows users to get information on their companies’ carbon impact updated in real-time.
123Comapre.me
Website: https://123compare.me/en/
Product/service description: 123Compare.me is a travel tech SaaS company focused on creating a perfect conversion rate optimization solution for the hospitality industry. It enables travelers to easily compare prices on official websites and OTAs, thus enabling them to get the best deal.
Stage: Pre-seed
Year of foundation: 2017
Founders: Jordi Serra and Pau Ferret
Funds raised: Approximately $250.000
Why have we included it in the list?
We decided to add 123Comapre.me to the top travel tech startup list because they offer a sophisticated solution that compares direct booking and OTAs’ prices in real-time. It’s one of the few travel tech solutions that promote direct booking.
Lodgify
Website: www.lodgify.com
Product/service description: Lodgify startup entered the market with one goal – to simplify marketing for vacation rental product providers. They came up with a comprehensive SaaS platform for vacation rental property managers and owners.
Stage: Series A
Year of foundation: 2012
Founders: Dennis Klett and Marco De Gregorio
Funds raised: $6.6 million
Why have we included it in the list?
Lodgify secured its position on our list because it makes a huge difference for vacation rental owners and managers when it comes to marketing and management properties. Its intuitive dashboard enables users to establish an online presence, facilitate online booking, and synchronize data across all online platforms.
Questo
Website: www.questoapp.com
Product/service description: Questo enables travelers to explore cities in a brand-new way. The startup has created an app that enables creators to come up with engaging city exploration games. The app currently supports both Android and iPhone devices and features over 100 city exploration games.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2017
Founders: Alexandru Govoreanu
Funds raised: $1.8 million
Why have we included it in the list?
We’ve added Questo to our list because it enables travelers worldwide to experience cities like never before. The app is quite engaging as it offers games centered around a wide range of themes such as movies, local legends, books, and historical facts.
The Hotels Network
Website: www.thehotelsnetwork.com
Product/service description: The Hotels Network’s innovative approach to growth hacking enables hotels to attract more guests and increase bookings through a direct channel. The platform leverages several technologies to allow hotels to personalize online booking journeys for all guests individually.
Stage: Series B
Year of foundation: 2015
Founders: Juanjo Rodriguez, Laura Martinez Celada, Marc Rollan Serrano
Funds raised: $15.2 million
Why have we included it in the list?
What we love about the Hotels Network is its well-planned and comprehensive platform. It comes with all the features hotels need to attract and engage new potential guests. It also uses predictive personalization to deliver memorable experiences to potential guests, thus increasing conversion rates and boosting direct bookings.
Latam travel tech startups
If you want to see what’s going on in the Latam travel tech startup niche, you need to check out the following companies.
TripYeah
Website: www.tripyeah.com
Product/service description: TravelYeah is a startup that offers a comprehensive travel meta optimizer. The company uses AI, ML, and sophisticated algorithms to process thousands of data points and create personalized and the most optimal travel itineraries for travel agents.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2020
Founders: Elias Musalem, Fernando Ordonez, and Miguel Rodriguez
Funds raised: $14 million
Why have we included it in the list?
We’ve added TripYeah to our list because the startup uses next-gen technologies to create next-gen solutions. Their travel meta optimizer is one of its kind in helping travel agents create itineraries that reflect the unique needs and preferences of travelers.
TravelX
Website: www.travelx.io
Product/service description: TravelX specializes in providing online travel services. But there is one thing that makes their services unique. The startup uses blockchain technology, thus making its retailing and distribution platform transparent, secure, efficient, and decentralized.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2021
Founders: Juan Lafosse
Funds raised: $10 million
Why have we included it in the list?
TravelX has secured its spot on our list because the startup revolutionizes travel product distribution and retailing. Thanks to blockchain, travel companies can easily tokenize their travel and transportation product inventory to facilitate sales across borders while reducing costs and generating more revenue.
Rappi
Website: https://travel.rappi.com/
Product/service description: Following great success, Columbian startup Rappi decided to tap into a new vertical by launching Rappi Travel startup. Rappi allows users to book flights to destinations worldwide through an Android or iPhone mobile app.
Stage: Series E
Year of foundation: 2020 Rappi Travel (2015 Rappi)
Founders: Juan Pablo Ortega, Sebastian Mejia, Felipe Villamarin, Guillermo Plaza Roche, and Simón Borrero
Funds raised: $2.2 billion
Why have we included it in the list?
We’ve added Rappi Travel to our list because the startup’s team seems to never settle down with an achievement. Instead, they always look for new innovative solutions to help the tourism sector recuperate and provide additional support to travelers.
Onfly
Website: http://www.onfly.com.br/
Product/service description: Onfly is a startup that delivers next-gen solutions for business travel. It also offers solutions for travel expense management and credit cards. Its focus is on small and medium businesses in LATAM.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2019
Founders: Marcelo Linhares
Funds raised: $390,000
Why have we included it in the list?
Business travel is an important aspect of business management for many companies. And we’ve added Onfly because it offers companies everything they need to manage their business travels through one platform.
Arrivedo
Website: https://arrivedo.com/
Product/service description: Arrivedo leverages cutting-edge technologies to create and curate content for travelers. It enables travel companies to drive user engagement rates by offering them a way to tell a story about every destination in their offer.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2015
Founders: Alonso Franco and Rodrigo Lopez
Funds raised: $3.9 million
Why have we included it in the list?
We added Arrivedo to the list because it’s a perfect example of how to leverage popular technologies to delight travelers. The app curates every guide, ensuring that only the most complete and engaging guides are available to hotels, travel agencies, and tourism boards. The content is dynamic, and users can access it through a map easily embeddable on a website or in an app.
Pinguim
Website: https://pinguim.app.br/
Product/service description: Pinguim is a tech and tourism startup devoted to changing the way people interact with travel packages. The app leverages AI to help connect people who share common travel goals and those that want to have the same experiences and same destinations.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2019
Founders: Renata Franco
Funds raised: $195,000
Why have we included it in the list?
Pinguim has secured its spot on our list because it offers something brand new to people who enjoy traveling. Thanks to the AI and easy-to-use app, travelers can now meet like-minded people and explore the world together.
Local Adventures
Website: https://localadventures.travel/
Product/service description: Local Adventure is a travel tech startup that specializes in offering accessible solutions to enable clients to easily plan and book their trips. The company also offers innovative fintech solutions to help clients get access to more flexible arrangements.
Stage: Seed
Year of foundation: 2016
Founders: Daniel Peña, Moises Vera, and Sebastian Nicolas Rodríguez Romero
Funds raised: N/A
Why have we included it in the list?
Local Adventures is on the list because it doesn’t just offer any travel experience to travelers. The company tropicalizes and validates experiences using technology to ensure only the best ones are available to clients. The company has also helped LATAM tourists get access to international travel packages.
Conclusion
According to CB Insights, the global travel tech startup space lost over 30% of funding in 2020. Nevertheless, some startups managed to attract tech investors by embracing innovation.
The 25 startups you had the chance to discover above are on our travel tech market map. While each one brings unique value, they all have one thing in common – they help recuperate the travel sector.
As you can see, these startups use both proven and emerging technologies to achieve various goals, from improving the traveling experience to enabling travel companies to capture more profit and generate new revenue streams.
