Those who thought that traditional car rental brands were competitors to the emerging ride service sector need to think again. In a deal announced at the ITB exhibition in Berlin last week, rental giant Hertz launched a transfer brand (Hertz Driver Services) to co-exist alongside its core vehicle hire…
Investors and startups could finally be realising what those on the periphery have noted for years – B2B is where the sensible money and effort works. New businesses are emerging that try to conquer and disrupt the consumer travel space – but the trend appears to be shifting in…
One of the Chinese government’s biggest investment funds reportedly put $100 million into Airbnb‘s billion dollar fundraising round, which closed last week. The rumour appears to have come from Sky News and has been reported in the APAC and Chinese financial pages over the past few days. Nobody from…
The ‘End of Apps’ has been overblown. The rise of chatbots has encouraged articles about the demise of apps from the likes of The Telegraph, Recode, and The Independent. Taken at face value, it’s easy to conclude that apps are losing favor among consumers: per Nielsen, the average number…
Amadeus is putting more money into travel startups through its Amadeus Ventures division – this time backing Betterez and Flyr. The undisclosed investments join its backing of a number of travel startups including Yapta, BlueSmart and BookingPal. The Flyr investment is part of a wider deal originally disclosed in January this…
Another week, another consumer-facing travel app goes to the busy startup graveyard in the sky. Postcard & Tag will close in a few weeks in what its CEO Ruth Thomason says is a “heart-wrenching” decision, amid sadness over letting down its “users, our employees, our board and advisors, and…
Four-year-old Brazilian flight search engine Voopter has attracted the attention of overseas investors again, this time almost doubling its previous round. Travel Capitalist Ventures is behind the new Series B investment of $600,000 in the Sao Paulo-based company. This follows an earlier round of €350,000 from Global Founders Capital,…
TV advertising is long dead – a part of marketing’s ancien régime that communicates less effectively today than a pet rock. NB: This is a viewpoint by Simon Finne, co-founder of Loopon. Think about it. When was the last time you actually watched a TV commercial instead of skipping…
The financial backer of SiteMinder and Stackla has led a $1.8 million investment in Rezdy, the tours and activities technology provider. Bailadour Technology Investments was joined by fellow Australian money house Microequities VC Fund in the round. The latest injection of funding will be used to support Rezdy’s expansion…
Since becoming available widely in April 2016, Facebook Live has become the go-to platform for live video streaming. Facebook’s user penetration brought live streaming to the world’s biggest audience. Existing services, such as Twitter’s Periscope and YouTube Live, hadn’t enjoyed the level of mainstream visibility that Facebook’s product instantly received….