FutureTravel Newsletter 40 / November 4th

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Hi , 

I'm very proud to open this edition saying that we closed the application call for our first FutureTravel Pitch Competition with roughly 150 pre-seed & seed travel startup applications received. This is amazing! Personally I'm very thankful for everyone who submitted their application and looking forward for hosting the FutureTravel Summit.At this point we are still going through the applications, so if you applied and haven't heard from us yet: don't worry, we are on it. In next week's edition of this newsletter we will announce the finalists who will pitch during the FutureTravel Summit - stay tuned!On November 24th, the selected teams will get valuable feedback from our handpicked jury members: Christoph Schuh (Lakestar), Meryem Aydin (Amadeus Ventures), and Andrey Kostyuk (Aalchemy Ventures). Are you still wondering what these startups are after? Well, the winning startup team of the FutureTravel Pitch Competition will receive a prize package with a value of $40,000. We will definitely keep you posted!And now, let's head to this week's overview of the top travel innovations, trends and startups.- Cloudbeds has raised $150 million. Serving clients across 157 countries, the hospitality tech provider says it will mostly use the capital to create new features and functions for their products, apart from growing its team and to accelerate customer acquisition. This round brings Cloudbeds total funding to $253 million.- German startup Volocopter and Rome-Fiumicino Airport have announced their plans on making flying taxis a realistic option for travelers to reach the city center from 2024 onwards. And as it seems, Paris and Berlin are on Volocopter's radar, too.- Still on the topic of flying taxis, the UK-based flying taxi startup Vertical Aerospace recently announced $205 million raised in funding. They are the startup pioneering zero-emissions aviation. Yes, you read it right: zero-emissions aviation.- Founded in 2019, the Seoul-based autonomous driving startup 42dot raised $88.5M to accelerate its growth. If you never heard about 42dot before, start here: although 42dot CEO and co-founder, Chang-Hyeon Song, is also ead of TaaS (Transportation as a Service) at Hyundai Motors, the startup raised $42 million pre-series A in 2019, counting on South Korea’s several big conglomerates, including Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and LG Electronics, among others. - Starting next year, a 18-hour ferry route will be connecting Norway and the Netherlands. Travelers can expect a very modern ferry-cruise, with space for ​​1,500 passengers and 350 cars. The startup making this happen is Holland Norway Lines.- Ghost kitchen meets room service with Butler Hospitality. As Phocuswire described it: "(the startup) offers virtual room service by operating restaurants in hotels and delivering to non-service hotels nearby. Its model is designed to take an existing asset – in this case a hotel property - and help monetize and maximize its square footage." And now Butler Hospitality raised $35 million to expand their dining concepts and strengthen strategic partnerships.- Chalo is the startup leading the digitalization of buses in India and they have now acquired Shuttl, which operates thousands of buses aimed at working professionals. Interesting moment for the $20 billion bus-market in India. - Here is a merger aiming to make life easier for hotels: Cendyn and Pegasus have joined forces to provide hoteliers with a platform to boost their direct bookings and improve guest experience.See you next Thursday,Ana