Startups
Global travel M&A surpasses pre-pandemic levels, 423 deals in the last year
16/11/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Cambon Partners and VIDEC unveil travel industry's first-ever mergers and acquisitions tracker Cambon Partners, a Paris-based investment banking firm specialising in mergers, acquisitions, and corporate financing, has collaborated with VIDEC, a Mumbai-based boutique research, consulting, and M& [...]
Phocuswright unveils Top 25 travel startups of 2024, 8% from Asia Pacific
16/11/2023 by WiT
New list spotlights pandemic-era innovations, with 17 startups born in the last three years PhocusWire, the media and news division powered by Phocuswright, has unveiled its list of the "Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2024" at The Phocuswright Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This year's sele [...]
Airbnb acquires GamePlanner.AI, expands AI capabilities
15/11/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Tech giant invests nearly $200 million in stealth AI startup founded by Siri co-creator In its first acquisition since 2019 and first-ever as a public company, Airbnb has acquired GamePlanner.AI, a stealth 12-person AI company founded by Adam Cheyer and Siamak Hodjat. Adam Cheyer, known for co-foun [...]
Welcome to the “Squid Game” of Korean travel startup world
07/11/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
K Travel Tech Summit puts spotlight on role models and aspiring stars If there was one key message from the first K Travel Tech Summit, held in conjunction with WiT Seoul, and organized by the Korea Tourism Organisation, it is that Korean travel startups are more than ready to take on the world. [...]
The Human Revolution goes to Africa – world’s biggest population by 2030
06/11/2023 by WiT
WiT, Innovation City and Travelstart team up to hold travel tech event in Cape Town March 14-15 WiT (Web in Travel), the leading travel tech conference and media in Asia Pacific, will launch its African edition in Cape Town, South Africa, on March 14-15, 2024. To be held in partnership with Inn [...]
Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank Group invests $25m in Traveligo, rebranding to Gother
01/11/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Thai domestic OTA to partner with TakeMeTour and expand overseas Thailand’s Beacon Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Kasikorn Bank, has invested US$25m in Traveligo, a Thailand domestic OTA founded in 2015 by Anupong Kriangkrailipikorn, and which will be rebranded to Gother. The news, announc [...]
Meet the newbies scaling their startups with tech tools
30/10/2023 by Luke Clark
From brainstorming buddy to content scaling and revenue management”, how AI is aiding each of these four startups They have come out of the pandemic, each stronger in their own ways. And now thanks to new tools driven by AI and other disruptive technologies, we heard from four regional startups a [...]
Velocity Ventures and Korea Tourism Organization sign MoU for Korean Startup Accelerator
27/10/2023 by WiT
Tripbtoz is picked as first investment recipient by Velocity Ventures from KTO regional startup accelerator programme Velocity Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital firm with a special focus on the hospitality and travel sector in Southeast Asia, has entered into a strategic partnership with [...]
Tribal power: The new model warriors driving OTAs forward
23/10/2023 by Luke Clark
“The revolution of travel itself lies in how we connect people” Anyone who thinks that the great days of innovation for Online Travel Agents (OTAs) are behind us, clearly has not been to a Web In Travel event recently. At WiT Singapore 2023, we met three perfect examples of how in the right han [...]
Opportunities for startups abound in the age of vertical disruption
17/10/2023 by Luke Clark
“To be able to have automation and language models that enable a robot to engage with your customer? It changes the paradigm.” As every sector in travel from tours and activities, to flights, hospitality and corporate travel undergoes massive change, the WiT Singapore 2023 panel on ‘Vertical [...]