Signs point north for travel startup funding in 2021

Travel funding may have hit a low in 2020 but there are signs of recovery emerging in 2021.

Data from Crunchbase reveals venture-backed newcomers landed funding of about $4.8 billion last year, compared to 2019’s figure of $10.8 billion.

Lufthansa Innovation Hub’s State of Travel and Mobility report puts the figure at more than $8 billion but that’s likely because of the rounds that went into ground transportation brands.

Certainly mobility was one to watch in 2020 and continues to be in 2021.

Notable rounds that boosted the segment last year included Voi and TIER at the micro-mobility end and Bolt, Didi and Grab in the wider transport segment.

Vacation rental and corporate travel startups also got a look in with significant rounds for Sonder and Tripactions to name just two.

So far this year, travel startups have raised about $3.4 billion across 173 deals according to the Crunchbase data.

Worth a mention are TravelPerk's $160 million round, €20 million for hospitality startup Cosi and $42 million for Getaway.

There continues to be huge appetite from investors for ground transport and mobility technology startups, particularly on the autonomous driving end.

In recent weeks, EasyMile announced a €55 million round, Go Sharing landed €50 million and Momenta raised $500 million.

SPACs or special acquisition purpose companies continue to be a trend to watch with both Grab and Sonder announcing an IPO via this route recently.