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Meet the finalists of our 2025 Pitch Competition
It's to meet the early-stage startups that will take the stage in Barcelona
Hi there,
Travel can be a tough place to build something new.
It’s regulated, seasonal, and fragmented. It moves slower than tech, and every player (from small hotel owners to big corporate teams) is dealing with real constraints.
But that’s exactly why startup thinking matters here.
We believe startups have something important to bring: curiosity, creativity, and the courage to experiment new things in an industry that often resists them. It’s true: not every idea will land. But some will help us all (hoteliers, operators, execs, travelers) do better.
This week, we’re proud to introduce the 10 finalists of this year’s pitch competition.
Funding Spotlight
This week we tracked more deals than usual. Mostly early stage rounds. Here we’ve pulled together the ones worth watching.
🇬🇧 Inntelo AI raised over €576K to grow its AI-powered concierge platform, helping hotels deliver more personalized and automated guest experiences. Read more
🇬🇧 Trifft Loyalty secured €474k to scale its rewards and loyalty solution tailored for small businesses in Eastern Europe. Read more
🇺🇿 TASS Vision raised €1.3M to expand its AI tools that help physical spaces (like airports, hotels, or stores) better understand how people move and interact. Read more
🏴 Edinburgh-based SWURF raised a six-figure round as it turns cafés, hotels, and venues into revenue-generating workspaces for the remote work era. Read more
🇺🇸 Folio raised $14M to streamline hotel financial operations with its AI-powered automation stack. Read more
🇮🇹 Weebora secured €1.3M to grow its marketplace for padel tourism, combining match-making with travel experiences. Read more
🇺🇸 Blockskye raised nearly $16M to expand its blockchain-based infrastructure for automating corporate travel booking, payments, and reporting. Read more
🇺🇸 Juno has closed a $4M seed extensionn (just 3 months after its last round) to keep building its one-stop shop for organizing guest travel. Read more
Before checking out
Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think about what’s shifting under the surface…
🎧 The business of belonging
Our friends at EU-Startups talked to Charlie MacGregor (CEO of The Social Hub) to talk about the shift from hospitality as service to hospitality as connection, how design influences behavior, and why “belonging” might be the strongest business model of all.
🧳 ‘Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday’ is everywhere
Vulture explains how this budget holiday brand moved beyond travel service, becoming a pop-culture reference point by leaning into identity, emotion, and memorable experiences. Perfect reading for anyone in tourism or branding
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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