Investments

News / Startups

Steve Singh's latest business travel startup lands $6M for AI agent

By Linda Fox | August 22, 2024

Singh will serve as executive chairman of Otto, which is creating an AI-powered travel assistant to plan, book and support business travelers during a trip. Read More

News / Technology

Blackstone acquires hotel accounting tech specialist M3

By Linda Fox | August 16, 2024

M3, which was founded in 1998, provides a back-office accounting software platform as well as labor management and business intelligence tech to more than 8,000 properties in North America. Read More

News / Online

PhocusWire's weekly travel tech news briefs: Holibob, RedAwning, Cloudbeds, AirDNA and more

By PhocusWire | August 16, 2024

Keep up with all the latest people, product and partner news from around the global travel industry in PhocusWire's weekly roundup. Read More

News / Startups

India-based all-electric Fresh Bus raises $10.5M for expansion

By Mitra Sorrells | August 13, 2024

Founded in 2023, Fresh Bus operates on intercity routes in India along with a digital-first customer experience that offers real-time bus tracking and a loyalty program. Read More

News / Online

Inspirato receives $10M, makes employee cuts, names new CEO

By Morgan Hines | August 13, 2024

The luxury travel subscription company received $10 million in equity financing, cut its workforce by 15% and named Payam Zamani as its new chairman and CEO. Read More

News / Startups

OYO raises $174 million in Series G funding

By Linda Fox | August 13, 2024

The company says the funding, which has come from a number of investors including OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal, will go toward growth. Read More

News / Technology

Priorities, challenges and next steps for Lufthansa Innovation Hub

By Linda Fox | August 13, 2024

Travel startups including Squake, Navit, Swifty and Uptrip have come out of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub. Now, at 10 years old, the corporate venture unit is looking at how it scales further, does more... Read More

News / Startups

Events and tickets platform Coras raises €1.3M

By D.J. Catron | August 12, 2024

The funding was led by DataOp and will also help Dublin-based Coras roll out Fida, a web loyalty platform that facilitates tokenized commerce so customers can spend their loyalty points across multiple... Read More

News / Online

Q&A: Travelport's Greg Webb talks future of NDC, IT outage, more

By Morgan Hines | August 12, 2024

At the Global Business Travel Association conference in Atlanta late last month, Greg Webb sat down with PhocusWire for a wide-ranging interview on the travel industry, Travelport and more. Read More

News / Technology

Winners, wipeouts and travel tech bets

By Linda Fox | August 6, 2024

The increased M&A activity in travel is seeing companies such as Juniper Group, Mews and Lighthouse scoop up smaller travel technology providers and startups. Read More

News / Startups

Travel insurance startup Faye raises $31M in series B funding

By Mileva Sapic | July 30, 2024

The round was led by Portage, a global investment platform, along with contributions from Lumir Ventures, F2 Venture Capital, Viola Ventures and Munich Re Ventures. Read More

News / Distribution

Short-term rentals’ efforts give new lease on life for vacated offices

By D.J. Catron | July 30, 2024

Executives from Bob W and Nestor Stay spoke at Phocuswright Europe about growth opportunities for the sector and the potential to revitalize urban areas that are losing office workers. Read More

News / Startups

Travel investors on the next innovation wave

By Linda Fox | July 29, 2024

Travel investors from Lakestar, Roch Ventures and Eight Roads discuss the latest trends in travel startup funding at Phocuswright Europe 2024. Read More