Edition #60, April 29

View this email in your browser

Reading time: 3 minutes Click here to read our past editions

Dear ,

There has been some interesting movement in startup funding this week in the travel industry, so let’s jump straight into your roundup of news on innovation, trends and travel startups. Ready?

• You saw this term everywhere in the past year: SPACs. The bright people from TNMT did a deep dive into the hype and now they launched a report sharing their findings around the topic - here is what they published.

• Got an idea about sustainable tourism? Want to discover the potential of space technologies? The 3rd CASSINI Hackathon is for you! Taking part in the CASSINI Hackathon has so many great benefits - from winning cash prizes to mentoring to incubation programmes and more. Don’t miss out on this awesome opportunity! Sign up now :)

• The luggage storage platform Bounce has raised $12 million and is now targeting their business expansion into Europe. With 7,000 locations worldwide so far, their mission is to "build the world's largest retail chain without owning any physical stores."

• OTA Insight has just acquired RevGEN, which provides analysis of hotel performance from multiple data sources to boost productivity and revenue opportunities. This is their second acquisition in two months and it seems like they are building quite a powerful combination of data and solutions for the hospitality industry.

• Oh, I love to see how different players are exploring the intersections of travel and fintech. WeTravel, known for its booking platform for the multi-day travel industry, has added an instant payment feature to their platform. Here is what Johannes Koeppel (CEO) had to say about this new offer: “In the travel industry, suppliers are heavily reliant on cash withdraws to pay tour leaders, local businesses and community activities and, in so deep as, group tipping. For all businesses - but especially local suppliers, vendors and employees who need tourism dollars, instantly - our most recent fintech solution will continue to help businesses increase revenue and stakeholder satisfaction, while managing their business’s risk funds and cash flow”.

• Founded in 2019, Japanese hospitality proptech startup Wayfarer has raised $1 million. Seems like this is pushing them towards their goal to modernize hotel management in Japan and become the "Amazon Web Services of hotels."

• The first carbon-positive hotel in the US will be opening by the end of next year, but this is worth checking out: With 265 rooms, Populus is being developed to be carbon positive with its sustainable design and construction features as well as a substantial ecological effort offsite, including an initial commitment to planting trees that represent over 5,000 acres of forest.

• Out of Office launched last year with the goal of giving travelers inspiration and planning tips based on where their friends have traveled in the past. This week the female-led startup announced that they raised $3.5 million to keep growing their business.

See you next week,Ana

How did you enjoy this edition?loved it | meh | hated it

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

If you are looking for the most disruptive startups in the travel industry right now, make sure to check out our Premium Report: “Top 100 Travel Startups” which might be relevant for you.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 10k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry.

Subscribe now

Copyright (C) Want to change how you receive these emails?You can update your preferences or unsubscribe