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Skift Take
— Justin Dawes
Four travel tech startups raised $29 million in venture capital this week.
>>Bach, a planning and booking platform for bachelorette parties, 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 facilitates the search and booking of local experiences and includes features meant to make group travel easier, including group chat, expense splitting, polling, and itinerary creation.
The Philadelphia-based company currently facilitates parties in a dozen U.S. 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 bookable experiences on its platform, with plans to grow 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 every five traveling bachelorette parties in the U.S. this year.
The company quadrupled revenue growth in 2022 versus the previous year, it said.
“Bach is having a real impact on the vendors 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. Bach is not only proving it can be the market leader and own the bachelorette vertical, but, by doing so, is also building the foundation to naturally unlock group travel broadly.”
Bach started as an app alone, but there will be a booking website available next month.
>>Landfolk, a 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 that number this year.
Landfolk was founded in Denmark by seven people, all former employees of Airbnb.
Only 60 percent of homeowner applicants are accepted, with the goal of maintaining consistently high standards
Landfolk said that 70 percent of the homes on platform have either never been rented out or are not rented out on other platforms, showing 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 far too long. They have managed to create a company in just two years with impressive turnover by, among other things, expanding the market with a segment that has never previously rented out their holiday home, 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 toward developing the product for easier interactions with homeowners as well as travelers.
>>Meshini, a flight booking platform based in Saudi Arabia, has raised $8 million (30 million Saudi riyals), led by Shaddadi Information Technology Company.
Besides the booking platform, the company provides software platforms to help tourism companies manage operations.
The company was co-founded by Abdulaziz Al Harthy in 2018.
>>Captain Experiences, 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 vetted guides and has booked more than 47,000 hours of outdoor experiences.
The funding will go toward growing in the fishing charter industry across the U.S. and beyond, with plans to expand hunting guides that started last fall in Texas.
>>Wheel the World, a booking platform for travelers with disabilities, has raised $6 million in pre-Series A funding, led by Kayak Ventures. (See Skift’s story.)
>>Tryp.com, a startup booking platform based in Denmark, raised an undisclosed seed round mostly from individual investors. The startup said the round values the company at €8.3 million ($8.8 million).
| Company | Stage | Lead | Raise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bach | Series A | Pritzker Group Venture Capital | $9 million |
| Landfolk | Seed | Seed Capital | $4 million |
| Meshini | Seed | Shaddadi Information Technology Company | $8 million |
| Captain Experiences | Unspecified | Bullish | $2 million |
| Wheel the World | Pre-Series A | Kayak Ventures | $6 million |
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.
Photo Credit: Through the Bach app, travelers can book a tour through the French Quarter in New Orleans.
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