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Top Travel Startups to Watch (and Work for) in 2023

September 16, 2023
      |      Kieran Ryan
photo of a nice home with a sunset in background

My Background

Hi, I'm Kieran! I worked in startups for five years at On Deck and Wefunder. Some of my favorite things that I've worked on during my career include:

  • Wefunder Workaway: 12 founders working on a new idea, 7 days, 1 mansion in Hawaii. One of the teams we picked raised a Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, and two people who met during the trip got married...
  • On Deck: As employee #15, I contributed to the startup's growth from no revenue to a $20 million run rate in less than a year. I led the team that built the admission infrastructure to support and scale ~20 fellowships for founders, capital allocators, operators, and creators.
  • XX: Worked on a pre-YC accelerator program that invested $125K on an MFN SAFE into 8-10 teams per cohort.
  • ODX: Worked on a $100 million accelerator program that invested $125K for 7% into 100s of startups. We partnered with leaders like Flexport to build vertical industry tracks around supply chain & logistics, etc.
  • Ryan Marketing: Created an influencer marketing startup (2 million+ Instagram followers) during college with my twin brother and realized early that monetization for creators was broken. I learned a lot, and it paid enough to cover my schooling, rent, and meals.

The Methodology

I considered several data points to arrive at the startups selected on this list, including company traction, funding raised, valuation, and investors. From my initial list, I then referenced each startup with my personal network to narrow down the list to the one you see below. I take my credibility seriously, so I do not take any money from startups who want to be included on this list to remain impartial. If you want to understand my analysis of startups and prefer long-form content, read my research on the top startups of 2023 afterward.

Hopper Logo

Hopper

Book travel on mobile.

Headquarters

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Industry

Travel

Founded

2007

Funding

$729.7 million

Valuation

$5 billion

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Hopper has helped 100 million travelers and has rated 4.8/5 stars from 650,000+ reviews, according to its website.
  • As of July 2023, Hopper reported it sells $4.5 billion worth of travel annually.
  • As of July 2023, Hopper has 1.1 million Instagram followers, 53.7K Twitter followers, 2.1 million Facebook followers, and 161.9K TikTok followers.
  • As of November 2022, Hopper has an estimated 11.2% of the third-party travel market.
  • As of February 2022, Hopper has 70 million downloads and $2 billion in travel sales to date.
  • In 2021, Hopper reported 300% revenue growth over 2020.
Navan Logo

Navan

Corporate travel management.

Headquarters

Palo Alto, California

Industry

Travel, Fintech

Founded

2015

Funding

$2.2 billion

Valuation

$9.2 billion

Traction

  • As of June 2023, Navan has thousands of customers, including Lyft, Box, Okta, Snowflake, Lennar, Axios, Yelp, Heineken, and Amplitude.
  • In Q2 FY23, Navan reported 5x YoY gross bookings growth and 7.5x spend volume growth.
Black and white earth globe

Wander

Find your happy place.

Headquarters

Austin, Texas

Industry

Travel

Founded

2021

Funding

$32 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • In July 2023, Wander crossed 5,000 nights booked on the platform.
  • In October 2022, Wander crossed 100,000 registered accounts on its platform.
  • As of March 2023, Wander has 15 properties across the United States.
  • Since launching its first property in February 2022, Wander customers have booked 2,000+ nights with a 94.6% satisfaction rating.
Kindred logo

Kindred

Trusted home swapping & exchange community.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Marketplace, Real Estate, Travel

Founded

2021

Funding

$22.8 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Kindred has received 20,000+ membership applications since launching in 2021.
  • Kindred members have spent over 5,000 nights at one another’s homes.
Peek Logo

Peek

A better way to book experiences.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel

Founded

2012

Funding

$119.9 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Peek has 20,000+ things to do on its platform.
  • As of November 2021, Peek passed $2 billion in bookings from 35 million+ customers.
TravelPerk Logo

TravelPerk

Corporate travel management company.

Headquarters

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Industry

Travel

Founded

2015

Funding

$409 million

Valuation

$1.3 billion

Traction

  • As of July 2023, TravelPerk has thousands of premium customers, up from 150 in 2017, including Beyond Meat, Hotjar, Grammarly, Revolut, Algolia, Airbus, Farfetch, Glovo, World Wildlife Fund, and Wise.
  • As of July 2023, TravelPerk has rated 4.6/5 stars from 1,487 G2 reviews and 4.8/5 stars from 387 reviews on Capterra.
  • As of June 2023, TravelPerk is on pace for 70% revenue growth.
  • In 2022, TravelPerk hit $100 million in annualized revenue. 
SmarterTravel Logo

SmarterTravel

Independent expert advice and unbiased reviews on the best travel deals, destinations, and money-saving tips.

Headquarters

Boston, Massachusetts

Industry

Travel

Founded

2018

Funding

$9.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, SmarterTravel has 48.8K Instagram followers, 149K Facebook followers, and 279.8K Twitter followers.
  • As of September 2021, SmarterTravel has 7 million email subscribers, and its first product, HopJump, grew to 60,000 users in a couple of months.
  • Between September 2020 and September 2021, SmarterTravel reported an 8x increase in revenue.
TrovaTrip Logo

TrovaTrip

Trips designed and hosted by topic experts.

Headquarters

Portland, Oregon

Industry

Travel

Founded

2017

Funding

$20 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, TrovaTrip has created 550+ authentic travel experiences in 51 countries, up from 150 experiences in 48 countries in September 2022.
  • As of July 2023, TrovaTrip has rated 4.3/5 stars from 85 reviews on Trustpilot.
  • As of September 2022, 15,000+ travelers have used TrovaTrip.
Shuttle Central Logo

Shuttle Central

Helping travel companies sell transportation online.

Headquarters

Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Industry

Travel

Founded

2019

Funding

$730K

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Shuttle Central has rated 3.8/5 stars from 1,049 Google reviews.
  • As of July 2023, Shuttle Central claims it helps travel companies increase profits by up to 20% per transaction for airport transportation.
Easol Logo

Easol

Sell travel and experiences online.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Travel, Creators

Founded

2017

Funding

$29.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Between 2020 and December 2021, Easol reported a 913% increase in its customer base, 50x in transactions, and a 30x increase in spend on the platform.
  • In 2019, Easol crossed 100+ creators on the platform.
zingbus Logo

zingbus

Platform for bus travel.

Headquarters

Gurugram, Haryana, India

Industry

Travel, Mobility & Transportation

Founded

2019

Funding

$6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, zingbus has transported two million+ customers.
  • As of July 2023, zingbus has connected 500+ cities in 17 states, up from 100 in July 2021.
  • As of July 2023, zingbus has a fleet of 350 buses.
TeamOut Logo

TeamOut

The corporate retreat planning platform.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel

Founded

2021

Funding

$3.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • TeamOut customers include Brex, Cloudflare, Kayak, Product Hunt, FreshDirect, and PwC.
AirHelp Logo

AirHelp

Air passenger rights expert.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Travel, Legal

Founded

2013

Funding

$12.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, AirHelp has helped 16 million+ passengers, up from 900,000 in August 2016.
  • As of July 2023, AirHelp has a network of 35+ law firms in over 35 countries and jurisdictions and supports 18 languages.
  • As of July 2023, AirHelp has rated 4.6/5 stars from 143,000 reviews on Trustpilot.
  • As of July 2023, AirHelp has 79.8K Instagram followers, 918K Facebook likes, and 11K Twitter followers.
Roame Logo

Roame

Free travel award search.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel

Founded

2023

Funding

Undisclosed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Roame supports 12 airline loyalty programs and 180 partner airlines.
  • As of July 2023, Roame reported an average search time of 12 seconds.
Journera Logo

Journera

Travel industry data platform.

Headquarters

Chicago, Illinois

Industry

Travel

Founded

2015

Funding

$30.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Journera’s commercial partners, including United Airlines, American Airlines, Hilton, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, and Hyatt Hotels Corporation, account for 50% of all US travel.
  • As of June 2023, Journera reports data on 354 million customers, 768 million reservations, and 12.6 billion travel events.
Hipcamp logo

Hipcamp

Outdoor stays.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel

Founded

2013

Funding

$97.5 million

Valuation

$300 million+

Traction

  • As of June 2023, Hipcamp operates across the US, Canada, France, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
  • In 2020, Hipcamp processed $40 million in gross transaction value.
Bounce Logo

Bounce

Luggage storage.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Consumer, Travel

Founded

2018

Funding

$15.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of June 2023, Bounce reports one million+ customers and 10,000 locations across 2,000 cities.
Tourlane Logo

Tourlane

Dream vacations made easy.

Headquarters

Berlin, Germany

Industry

Travel

Founded

2016

Funding

$101 million

Valuation

$242 million

Traction

  • As of May 2023, over 10,000 travelers have used Tourlane.
  • As of May 2023, Tourlane has rated 4.5 stars from 1,760 reviews on Trustpilot.
  • As of November 2020, Tourlane had curated itineraries and bookings to ~50 destinations.
Kasa Logo

Kasa

A curated collection of apartments, homes, and hotels.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel

Founded

2016

Funding

$56.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • From January 2020 to October 2020, Kasa reported occupancy rates of 75%, expanded units under management by 50%, and increased revenue by 50%.
  • As of May 2023, Kasa has 40+ property partners, 75+ properties, and users who have spent 500K+ room nights.
Flok Logo

Flok

End-to-end company event planning.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel

Founded

2020

Funding

Undisclosed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Flok has planned 200+ company events, including Alma, Pinterest, Amazon, Newsela, Brex, Firstbase, Slate, Wrapbook, Deno, Customer.io, and Untapped.
  • As of July 2023, Flok reports a 95% customer satisfaction rating and an average of 40+ hours saved per event.
Wayfind Logo

Wayfind

Trip planning with AI.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel, Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Founded

2023

Funding

Undisclosed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Wayfind launched their product on YC Launch on June 30, 2023.
  • Wayfind was part of the YC S23 batch.
Wanderlog Logo

Wanderlog

Free trip itinerary and road trip planner app.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Travel

Founded

2018

Funding

$1.7 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Wanderlog has rated 4.9/5 stars from 9.8K reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.7/5 stars from 7.46K reviews on the Google Play Store.
  • As of July 2023, Wanderlog has 500,000+ downloads on the Google Play Store.
  • As of September 2021, Wanderlog was facilitating thousands of weekly trips.
Collective Retreats Logo

Collective Retreats

Luxury camping destinations and retreats.

Headquarters

Denver, Colorado

Industry

Consumer, Travel

Founded

2015

Funding

$41.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of June 2021, Collective Retreats operated in three locations: Vail, Colorado; Hill Country, Texas; Governors Island, NY.
  • As of May 2023, Collective Retreats operates in eight locations: Vail, Colorado; Hill Country, Texas; Governors Island, NY; Fredericksburg, Texas; Big Sky, Montana; Green Mountains, Vermont; Sonoma, California; Trojena, Saudi Arabia.
Airalo Logo

Airalo

Local and regional eSIMs for travelers.

Headquarters

Singapore, Singapore, Asia

Industry

Travel

Founded

2019

Funding

$67.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of September 2023, Airalo reported 5 million+ customers and supports travel to 200+ countries.
  • As of September 2023, Airalo has rated 4.7/5 stars from 24.2K reviews on the Apple App Store, and has been downloaded 1 million+ times with a 4.3/5 star rating from 23.8K reviews on the Google Play Store.

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