Travel startups raise $240 million this week

Take Skift

One of this week’s startup fundraises — the largest so far this year — also beat out the top two deals of 2023 by GetYourGuide and Klook.

Justin Dawes

Four travel startups raised nearly $240 million this week, but the vast majority of that amount came from a single fundraiser.

With a $225 million Series D round of venture capital, Flyr’s fundraising this week was the largest this or last year for a travel tech company. It even outpaced two major equity and debt fundraisings last year by tour and activities platforms GetYourGuide and Klook, underscoring the level of opportunity to modernize airline retail.

Flyr: $225 million

Flyr, a modern retail platform for airlines, has raised $225 million in Series D funding.

The funding round was led by WestCap, with support from BlackRock, Streamlined Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Avianca airline.

Flyr also raised $70 million in debt financing led by Vista Credit Partners.

Flyr announced that it has already raised over $500 million.

San Francisco-based Flyr says its AI-powered platform helps airlines offer dynamic pricing, personalized offers and other digital products. The company is also rolling out similar products for hotels.

(See Skift’s story.)

Sora Fuel: $6 million

Sora Fuel, a renewable aviation fuel developer, raised $6 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round.

The funding round was led by Engine Ventures, with support from Wireframe Ventures and other investors.

Massachusetts-based Sora Fuel says it develops sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using only water, air and renewable electricity generated on-site.

The startup captures atmospheric carbon dioxide using a process it says is cheaper than existing methods. It then uses water and renewable energy to turn it into a combustible fuel called sygnalas.

“Sora Fuel technology eliminates 90% of the energy currently required in standard (direct air capture) processes, opening up an entirely new and more sustainable path to producing carbon negative fuels,” said Gareth Ross, co-founder and CEO of Sora Fuel, in a statement. “Our patented, closed-loop system enables direct production of a cost-effective product and overcomes common raw material constraints, enabling us to produce SAF at comparable costs to current Jet A fuel.”

The money will go towards expanding the team in Boston, improving its technology and establishing commercial partnerships.

Wanderboat: $6 million

Wanderboat, an AI-powered trip planning app founded by former Microsoft and Meta employees, told Skift it has raised $6 million in seed funding from undisclosed investors.

San Francisco-based Wanderboat said its platform includes AI-generated chat along with interactive maps that feature pins of nearby attractions that users can click on for more information. The site’s proprietary search engine draws from websites, video content, social media photos and review sites, designed to offer personalized recommendations and visualizations to users planning trips.

Users can also communicate with each other through the service and share travel plans with friends for group travel.

The platform is in beta. Developers are focused on strengthening the product and releasing updates based on user feedback.

The CEO and co-founder is You Wu, a former AI scientist at Microsoft.

YGO Tours: $2.7 million

YGO Trips, a vacation package booking platform, raised $2.7 million (€2.5 million).

The main investor was GetAway Group, a holding company for several booking platforms in the region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Supporting investors include HomeToGo CEO Patrick Andrae, HomeToGo co-founder Wolfgang Heigl, GetAway Group CEO Jan Seifried and others.

The Berlin startup says it allows users to book flights, hotels and event tickets all on one platform.

The funds will be used to strengthen the platform, including through further integration of artificial intelligence into the travel planning process.

Business	Scene	Lead	To raise
Leaflet	D-Series	West Cap	$225 million
Sora fuel	Seed	Ventures Engine	6 million dollars
Hike	Seed	Undisclosed	6 million dollars
YGO Tours	Indefinite	GetAway Group	$2.7 million

Skift Cheat Sheet

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

Series A The funding is typically raised from venture capitalists. The round is intended to help startup founders make sure their product is something customers actually want to buy.

B-Series financing is mainly for venture capitalist firms helping the company grow faster. These rounds of fundraising can help recruit skilled workers and develop profitable marketing.

C Series financing usually involves 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 are mostly mature businesses and a round of financing can help a company prepare for an IPO or acquisition. Different types of private investors can participate.