Travel Startup Funding This Week

Skift Take

India’s Itilite is riding the wave of business trips finally returning, with its eyes on the U.S. market, while in Europe Valpas has raised some money to stamp out the problem of bedbugs ruining tourists’ long-awaited holidays.

Matthew Parsons

This week, travel startups announced more than $30 million in funding.

>>Itilite, a business travel and expense platform, has raised $29 million in a Series C round.

Tiger Global and existing investor Dharana Capital led the round with Matrix Partners and Tenacity Ventures participating.

The India-headquartered company will use the money to continue its expansion in the U.S., and said it had grown 500 percent since its Series B round in 2020 as organizations return to travel. It claims to have 500,000 users globally across 300 businesses. “People are back to offices and business travel is back in the conversation,” said co-founder and CEO Mayank Kukreja.

>>Valpas, which helps hotels eliminate bedbugs in a safe way, has raised €1.6 million ($1.73 million). The seed funding round came from ActivumSG Ventures, TESI, Realty Corporation, and existing investors Maki.vc, Icebreaker.vc and Reaktor. 

The Finnish company works with 150 hotel in 20 cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Zurich, Munich, Lisbon, and Madrid. It said it has protected over 1 million trips, and increased customer satisfaction levels by up to 35 percent. “What vaccines, masks, and physical distancing are to Covid, Valpas is to bed bugs”, said Martim Gois, its co-founder and CEO. 

See Skift’s reporting on the science behind the startup.

Skift Cheat Sheet

Seed capital is money used to start a business, often led by angel investors and friends or family.

Series A financing is typically drawn from venture capitalists. The round aims to help a startup’s founders make sure that their product is something that customers truly want to buy.

Series B financing is mainly about venture capitalist firms helping a company grow faster. These fundraising rounds can assist in recruiting skilled workers and developing cost-effective marketing.

Series C financing is ordinarily about helping a company expand, such as through acquisitions. In addition to VCs, hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity firms often participate.

Series D, E, and, beyond These mainly mature businesses and the funding round may help a company prepare to go public or be acquired. A variety of types of private investors might participate.