Hi there,
Today’s newsletter is a takeover by our fabulous Research Analyst Anna Schneider.
Anna has been working like a maniac to produce multiple research pieces simultaneously.
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Two of Anna's pieces are ready for you to feast your eyes on.
So, without further ado, let’s jump right in.
Oh, but wait. If you’re new to TNMT, we are thrilled to have you here.
You’re in great company with fellow newcomers from Airbus, Uber, Google, Amadeus, Roland Berger, and many upcoming travel startups.
Looking to get up to speed with our latest research pieces covering the Travel and Mobility Tech sector? Listen to our first-ever 15-minute Audio Briefing.
Now, let's get started.
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Lennart Dobravsky
Editor-in-Chief
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Before we present to you our latest research project, it is important to take a step back.
We want to share some of our current thinking about Travel and Mobility Tech.
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Undoubtedly, the travel industry continues to undergo its biggest crisis in modern history—a worldwide pandemic of epic proportions that has paralyzed global mobility for more than two years.
What was tried and true prior to the pandemic is now contestable.
Consumer preferences are changing.
In particular, we have witnessed the rise of new working paradigms, ones that require less travel in a more digitized world.
Overall, the face of the industry is shifting in unforeseen ways.
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Travel and Mobility Tech is maturing
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The Travel and Mobility Tech industry has not only entered a new travel era as a result of the global pandemic, but it is also maturing.
This is the next step in its evolution.
As we have reported several times in the past, we believe startups drive massive disruption and transformation of entire industries, including the Travel and Mobility Tech sector.
The more startups are founded and funded, the higher the level of innovation to come in the future. That's why we have been tracking funding dynamics so vigorously.
Across the globe, thousands of startups in the Travel and Mobility Tech space have worked fearlessly on innovative solutions to make travel more efficient, frictionless, and interconnected.
Speaking of interconnection, the merging of the travel and mobility industries (which led to the name of this publication as TNMT stands for “Travel and Mobility Tech”) was primarily driven forward by cutting-edge startups.
These companies have a user-centric understanding of the traveler journey which has made both sectors, travel and mobility, closely intertwined.
A primary example of this is Uber.
- The ride-hailing giant began as a local, on-demand chauffeur service that transformed into a global mobility provider.
- Now, Uber aims to become a one-stop-travel shop where users can manage their entire travel itineraries (see Must Reads below).
However, one thing is changing.
Many of the most prominent Travel and Mobility Tech startups of the past decade are no longer startups.
These companies have grown large enough to employ hundreds, sometimes thousands, of employees, expanding across the globe and becoming successful enough to bid private capital markets adieu.
This is the maturing character of the industry we’re talking about.
2021, for example, saw more Travel and Mobility Tech players go public than ever before.
These startups-turned-public-players are now competing in an open market and must convince venture funds and retail investors alike that their proposition is viable.
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Expanding our research focus
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With all this in mind, we believe it is high time to expand our TNMT research focus beyond startups.
From early January on, we began observing how these publicly traded tech companies perform and how they continue to innovate Travel and Mobility Tech.
Long story short: Global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are opportunities for structural re-distribution and leapfrogging.
So, what better time is there to hit “reset” than now?
We want to start tracking the industry from the starting point of a new era of travel.
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A new pulse check for our industry
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To best track leading Travel and Mobility Tech players, we created the TNMT Market Index.
This market index is the first of its kind to represent category leaders in the Travel and Mobility Tech space.
In particular, the TNMT Market Index is designed to provide insights into the tech ecosystem from a public market perspective.
We will update the market index on a weekly basis, allowing you to track the market movements of key industry players.
In turn, you can decode major industry events and their impacts on investor sentiments.
On top of this, we will take two approaches towards tracking leading companies in Travel and Mobility Tech: an equal-weighted and a market-cap-weighted index structure.
For insights into what these market movements mean, keep subscribing to our newsletter.
Here, we will regularly contextualize the latest news, providing you with the explanations and drivers behind the stock market fluctuations and key market trends.
Will all this being said, visit TNMT.com for a first look at the TNMT Market Index in action.
You will soon here more about it.
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Teaser: The State of Travel and Mobility Tech in 2022
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We are driving forward our annual flagship report on startup dynamics in Travel and Mobility Tech.
Expect it this summer.
This will be the fourth edition of our report series on VC funding trends in startups.
As always, we zoom in on all the major categories of Travel and Mobility Tech, including:
- Online booking platforms
- Ground transportation
- Hospitality
- Aviation
- And other (mostly) digital services along the traveler journey.
Last year’s report focused on the winners and losers of the pandemic with a special add-on decoding the air-taxi hype.
This year’s analysis explores the post-Covid outlook on emerging opportunities across the travel and mobility spectrum.
Additionally, we aim to better contextualize funding trends in Travel and Mobility Tech by comparing facts and figures to the biggest and fastest-growing startup sector of all: Fintech.
Here is a quick preview:
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As you can see above, Fintech stole the show in 2021.
Global Fintech funding reached a record $9.5 billion USD in 2021, nearly triple the 2020 total.
Each major Fintech category—from crypto and payments to Insurtech—saw record funding in 2021, signaling that the Fintech boom is being driven by broad interest in the space.
Travel and Mobility Tech, on the other hand, saw less of a rapid funding uptake in 2021.
- In fact, funding into Travel and Mobility Tech startups in 2021 did not reach the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
- Even more worrying is the fact that investor interest in Q1 of 2022 appears to have cooled off when compared to last year. This illustrates the long wait period that might be on the horizon for the startup ecosystem to fully recover from the pandemic.
In other words: Our sector continues to struggle with the aftermath of the global travel standstill.
However, there are sub-sectors that are performing extremely well, including startups that operate at the intersection of travel and, wait for it, Fintech.
If you want to learn more, make sure to check out our 2022 TNMT flagship report.
Get early access to our new baby by signing up to the waitlist.
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The Meltdown in Tech Investing
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The Tiger Global investment boom has become an investment bust.
Tiger Global, one of the largest and most aggressive investors in venture capital, has suffered losses of roughly $17 billion USD amid this year’s technology stock sell-off.
The drop marks one of the severest dollar declines for a hedge fund in history.
In four months, Tiger has erased around two-thirds of the gains made since its launch 21 years ago, as calculated by LCH Investments.
Our prediction: This is the end of Tiger Global. You heard it here first. The company won’t recover.
For Travel and Mobility Tech, there won’t be much of a direct impact.
Recently, Anna analyzed Tiger’s investment portfolio, finding little proof the company is targeting startups in the travel and transportation sectors.
Check out her analysis here.
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On a similar note, SPACs have experienced a 90-degree nosedive in recent weeks as well.
The financial vehicle catching everyone’s attention in 2021 is now treading rough waters.
SPACs—which are often speculative stocks with little earnings—have been crushed this year in the face of rising interest rates and elevated market volatility.
How has this happened?
And does such a scenario have any impact on Travel and Mobility Tech companies?
The answer is yes.
We explore the specifics in our latest TNMT Report.
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Our Recommended Must Reads
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UBER TRAVEL – About a month after outlining its super-app strategy–adding trains and car rentals and soon flights and hotels to its app–Uber has unleashed several new features designed to capture the end-to-end travel journey.
 Read more by The Verge
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KILLER INTERVIEW – Hopper CEO Frederic Lalonde unpacked a lot of current travel-tech trends during an interview with Future where they discuss things like super-app ambitions, canceling out travel anxiety, and loving ‘Shopee Shake’.
Read more in Future by a16z
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RE-THINKING SEARCH – Airbnb is launching one of its biggest changes in how people discover and search for places to stay on its platform. It is reorganizing its homepage and app search around what it is calling Airbnb Categories.
Read more by Skift
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GOOGLE TRAVEL – Google's advancements in AI are transforming Google Maps. With an all-new immersive view of the world, users can find the most fuel-efficient route and use the magic of Live View in their favorite third-party apps.
Read more by Google
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STARTUP AIRLINES – New airlines don't come along very often, but the pandemic provided a rare opportunity for new carriers to establish themselves in smaller markets that had been abandoned by the major airlines in recent years.
Read more by Axios
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CHINESE STARTUPS – In the past few years, China has introduced a litany of policies to assert more control over its internet sector. Faced with these restrictions, China’s startups rethink their future.
Read more by TechCrunch
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EV STARTUPS – Startup electric vehicle makers are watching their stocks plunge as they grapple with the same market challenges that established automakers may be better positioned to handle.
Read more by Axios
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Most Recent Venture Capital Deals
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Optibus – the developer of a cloud-based analytics platform for mass transit received $100M in Series D funding in a round led by Verizon Ventures, Insight Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners. The funding round has pushed the company’s valuation to $1.3B, propelling it to unicorn rank.
Bookaway – the online booking platform designed to book bus, train, and ferry tickets raised $35M in Series C funding in a deal led by Red Dot Capital Partners, pushing the company’s pre-money valuation to more than $100M.
Mint House – the New York-based high-end accommodation provider for business travelers received $35M in Series B funding in a deal led by Mohari Hospitality. This puts the company’s pre-money valuation at $170M.
Hotailers – the travel management platform received $23M in VC funding from Przelewy24, the Polish payment platform. At the same time, the company rebranded to WorkTrips.com. The funds will reportedly be used to expand into new markets, among them the US and MENA.
Sensible Weather – the provider of weather forecast data for the planning of travel and events raised $12M in Series A-1 funding. The deal was led by Infinity Ventures (Palo Alto).
Faye – the one-stop shop for travel-related insurances from the US raised $8M in seed funding. The deal was led by F2 Venture Capital and Viola Ventures.
Katanox – the provider of a platform that connects accommodation providers to travel sellers received $5.7M in angel funding from Bas Blommaart, Jan Joost Klaff, and Juan Pablo Ortega.
CABN – the Australian provider of eco-friendly vacation cabins received $5.67M in corporate investment from Intrepid Travel.
Campiri – the online marketplace for renting campervans garnered $4.96M in seed funding. The round was led by Rockaway Capital.
Exosonic – the developer of supersonic aircraft raised $4M in seed funding. The new funding will reportedly be used to hire staff, establish an office, and increase the company’s hardware investments. Investors that participated in this round include YCombinator, Soma Capital, Psion Capital, Stellar Solutions, Unpopular Ventures, among others.
Estonishing Stay Apartments – the Estonian serviced apartment operator was acquired by Bob W, the alternative accommodation provider with rentals spread across Europe, for an undisclosed amount.
ReTravel.io – the cross-selling technology for travel agencies and airlines was acquired by Atriis, the developer of a corporate travel SaaS platform, for an undisclosed sum.
Direct Booker – the Croatian vacation rental booking platform was acquired by OYO rooms for an undisclosed amount.
Rydoo Travel – the travel management platform established by Rydoo was acquired by CDS Group, the French business hotel marketplace, for an undisclosed sum.
AeroCRS – the developer of operations tech for airlines, bus operators, train, ferry, and charter operators was acquired by 777 partners, the Miami-based private equity firm.
WorldTicket – the GDS distribution system for airlines was acquired by 777 partners for an undisclosed sum. The event happened the same day as the AeroCRS acquisition.
Points International – the Canadian company providing web-based solutions for the loyalty program industry was acquired by Plusgrade, the operator of a SaaS-based revenue optimization platform for the global travel industry.
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