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- Stay22: built with $1.5M. Raised $122M 🚀
Stay22: built with $1.5M. Raised $122M 🚀
Europe’s travel map is shifting, plus K-Pop fan trips and accessible travel
Hi there,
What a week. Stay22 just raised $122M, and we're unpacking why it matters and where they're headed next. We're also covering other rounds worth knowing about, from voice AI and accessible travel to K-Pop. Plus 2 interesting acquisitions on our radar.
And if you're building your ITB schedule, we've got you covered too 👋
Lonely Planet writes an article. A reader books a hotel. Stay22 gets a cut, and so does Lonely Planet. Seems like a simple idea, and turns out it scales.
Stay22 is the Montreal platform that helps publishers and creators get paid when their content drives bookings. Travel, retail, lifestyle. They process over $1B in annual transactions and paid out $25M to partners last year.
The plan: more countries, more verticals, more AI. But honestly, they'd been doing just fine without the money. If that's what they built with $1.5M in funding over 10 years, we're curious to see what they build next.
💬 "Creators and publishers now shape how people discover experiences and products, but many lack the infrastructure to monetize that influence. Stay22 was built to solve that problem." said Andrew Lockhead, CEO.
European travel demand has never been this spread out. Budget carriers, social media, and shifting traveller habits are sending people well beyond the usual city suspects.
Together with Digital Sardine, this week we unpack what that redistribution actually looks like - and what it means for how travel brands should be thinking about search and performance marketing right now.
🇺🇸 Wheel the World closes $11M to expand its accessible travel platform, which maps 200+ accessibility data points across 140+ destinations to help travelers with disabilities plan with confidence.
🇨🇿 RobosizeME raises $2M to bring AI-powered workflow automation to hotel groups - handling reservations, finance, and front office tasks 24/7 so staff can focus on guests instead of back-office admin.
🇧🇪 Otamiser raises $2M to grow its AI-powered OTA ranking and revenue management tool for hotels and short-term rentals, focused on capital-efficient scaling.
🇰🇷 Celetrip secures $1.1M in South Korean government backing to scale its K-Pop fan travel platform, which maps celebrity hotspots and filming locations and offers AI-generated, artist-voiced audio tours for fans visiting Korea.
🇺🇸 Slang AI raises $36M to scale its voice AI "Superhost" platform that answers every inbound call for restaurants, hotels and venues. It handles reservations, routing requests and recognizing returning guests, 24/7.
🇪🇸 Amadeus acquires SkyLink, a Y Combinator-backed startup whose conversational AI lets corporate travelers book policy-compliant trips via Slack or Teams in seconds.
🇺🇸 Bounce acquires Nannybag, expanding its luggage storage network into Europe and strengthening its presence in Paris and Rome.
 | of hotel chains are already using AI, but only 7% have a company-wide strategy. Source: h2c AI & Automation in Hospitality 2025 |
😩 Pain-cation is a thing
Seems like travelers are booking uncomfortable trips (grueling hikes, silent retreats, cold plunge camps) not to relax, but to “suffer their way” back to feeling human. Apparently lying by a pool isn't the reset it used to be. Quite a contrast from hospitality brands built around comfort 👀
🇩🇪 See you at ITB?
If you're heading to Berlin next week, say hi! And if you're still building your schedule, here's a quick round-up of side events worth knowing about beyond the trade floor.
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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