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- Who’s getting closer to Europe’s guests?
Who’s getting closer to Europe’s guests?
well, not our usual players
Hi there,
This week, I saw 2 announcements from DoorDash: the acquisition of UK-based Deliveroo, adding nine more countries to its footprint, and a $1.2 billion deal for hospitality platform SevenRooms. Just last month, I wrote about Lyft entering the European market by acquiring FreeNow. It’s starting to look less like coincidence. What I’m seeing is US-based companies quietly moving deeper into the infrastructure that supports travel in Europe.
DoorDash may be best known for food delivery, but it’s been quietly moving into hospitality tech. With SevenRooms, it picks up one of the most widely used guest experience platforms in restaurants and hotels. And with Deliveroo, it gets access to local markets across Europe’s tourism hubs.
The overall experience is getting more connected, and being shaped by a smaller group of bigger platforms. Growth is part of it. And so is control over the infrastructure behind the scenes. The question now is whether Europe wants a say in how it’s built.
Funding Spotlight
Italian startup Hotiday has raised €5.5 million to expand its model of a decentralized hotel brand. It partners with independent hotels to repurpose underused rooms and sells them under the Hotiday label as part of a growing digital hotel network.
To create consistency, the stays are branded and tech-enabled: guests check in online, access a 24/7 digital concierge, and earn cashback they can use across the network. There are also exclusive local offers built in, making each stay feel more connected to the destination, without adding operational load for the hotel.
💬 “We are building something that is unprecedented in the hospitality industry. In a market that is still strongly tied to traditional logics, we’ve introduced a clear, yet innovative vision that gives value to the hoteliers we work with and offers a better experience for travellers: digital, fluid, and thoughtless.” says CEO Vittorio Gargiulo.
It’s early, but this model taps into growing interest in rethinking what a hotel chain can be. Especially one built more on brand and tech than bricks and mortar. The new funding will help the team grow its presence across Europe and build out services for both partners and guests.
On our radar:
🇯🇵 Otetsutabi raised an undisclosed amount to grow its short-term job matching platform for rural travelers.
🇺🇸 Twelve raised new funding from United Airlines to push forward its clean fuel strategy.
🇮🇹 Ruralis raised €1.8M to expand its short-term rental management platform for second homes in rural areas.
🇮🇳 Sedna HoReCa raised ₹50 crore (~€5.6M) to scale its B2B supply platform for hotels and restaurants.
🇺🇸 Bookit N Go raised an undisclosed Series A to scale its AI-powered travel platform that helps travelers discover, plan, and book trips.
🇮🇳 Routematic raised €35M to expand employee transport for large-scale business travel routes.
Before checking out
Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just a couple of things we read this week that made us think about what’s shifting under the surface…
🛫 JetBlue sells venture capital subsidiary
JetBlue pulling back from VC is a reminder that not every corporate innovation story ends with a portfolio. (via Travel Weekly)
🏨 Behind Numa Group’s Profitable European Expansion
Numa’s doing what many hospitality startups talk about: scaling across Europe, staying lean, and making it work without burning through capital. (via Skift)
And that’s all for today.
See you next week,
Ana
Thank you for reading until the end.
The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.
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