Modern Takes on Travel: Startups Reimagine Tours, Timeshares, and Tipping
The travel industry is witnessing a wave of modernization, with startups introducing digital solutions to traditionally slow-to-evolve sectors like tour packages, timeshares, and hospitality tipping. The significant investments these startups are attracting demonstrate the demand for these updated approaches.
Exoticca Secures $65.1 Million to Digitize Multi-Day Tours
Exoticca, a platform offering multi-day tour packages, has secured $65.1 million (€60 million) in Series D funding, signaling a shift towards digitalization in the tour industry.
Led by Quadrille Capital, with participation from All Iron, ICF, 14W, Mangrove, Bonsai, Sabadell, and Aldea, this round follows a previous investment of $30 million in 2021.
Based in Barcelona, Exoticca’s technology streamlines travel planning by integrating flights, hotels, meals, transfers, transportation, and activities into one platform. This allows them to offer comprehensive packages based on real-time pricing and availability, claiming to save customers up to 30% compared to individual bookings.
Exoticca currently offers trips to over 70 destinations across the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Colombia, and Mexico.
“While the rest of the travel industry has become digitized, the multi-day tour space has remained stagnant, with customers stuck with inconsistent, time-consuming booking experiences,” says Pere Vallès, CEO of Exoticca. “Exoticca’s mission is to bring multi-day tour packages into the digital age, making dream trips accessible and affordable to everyone.”
The funding will be used to enhance the platform with AI, improve the customer experience, expand into new markets, and acquire new clients. Exoticca also provides a concierge app for trip monitoring and customer support.
Not a Hotel Raises $35 Million for Fractional Ownership of Vacation Homes
Not a Hotel, a startup offering fractional ownership of vacation homes in Japan, has raised $35 million in Series B funding.
The company allows customers to purchase a portion of a vacation home, granting them a predetermined number of nights they can book at the property, ranging from 30 nights to a full year. Customers also have the flexibility to book stays at other vacation homes within Not a Hotel’s portfolio through their app.
Projecting sales of approximately $650 million (100 billion yen) over the next two years, Not a Hotel has achieved significant growth since its inception four years ago.
The company has secured $148 million (22.7 billion yen) in contracts, gained 597 customers, and expanded to nine locations.
Grazzy Secures $4 Million to Streamline Digital Tipping
Grazzy, a software company specializing in digital tipping solutions, has raised $4 million in a second seed round led by Next Coast Ventures, with support from AZ-VC, InRevenue Capital, Iron Skillet Partners, and Tuesday Capital. This follows their initial seed round secured earlier in 2023.
Based in Texas, Grazzy enables guests to tip digitally via QR code, offering flexibility for tipping individuals, teams, specific rooms, or entire floors. The platform ensures same-day payouts to workers and provides comprehensive tax information.
Grazzy has received approval for use in hotels under all four major brands: Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and IHG, allowing hotels seamless integration with their existing technology systems.
“We’re meeting a seriously understaffed market with a solution that can truly deliver more money, more often to front-line employees,” says Russell Lemmer, founder and CEO of Grazzy. “On the Grazzy platform, we’ve moved millions of dollars directly to thousands of worker wallets. And we did that while saving our enterprise customers thousands of dollars a month in recruitment and retention costs.”
The startup has reported a 100-fold increase in its customer base over the past 18 months. The funding will be allocated towards hiring, expanding their customer base, scaling partnerships, and further developing the product.
Funding Breakdown:
| Company | Stage | Lead Investor | Raise Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exoticca | Series D | Quadrille Capital | $65.1 million |
| Not a Hotel | Series B | Unspecified | $35 million |
| Grazzy | Seed | Next Coast Ventures | $4 million |
Understanding Funding Stages:
- Seed Capital: Initial funding used to launch a business, often provided by angel investors, friends, and family.
- Series A Financing: Typically from venture capitalists, aiming to validate a startup’s product and market fit.
- Series B Financing: Focused on accelerating growth, often used for hiring, marketing, and expansion.
- Series C Financing: Supports further expansion, including acquisitions, with participation from VCs, hedge funds, and private equity firms.
- Series D, E, and beyond: Funding for mature businesses, often in preparation for an IPO or acquisition.
