We published a story from VentureWire that chronicled why venture capital investors are still booking reservations with travel-related start-ups, even though the travel industry is having fits amid the recession.
The story mentioned the first half of this year alone has seen at least 10 investments in travel companies that range from providing online reviews, recommendations and bookings to vacation rental management software. While we named a few of them in our story, we received several requests for the entire list so we decided to publish it here.
Using VentureWire’s comprehensive news database, here are 10 such start-ups that have raised capital in 2009:
AdventureLink Inc., Altadena, Calif. - Provides a way to comparison shop for adventure trips. Raised a $3.5 million Series B round led by Allegis Capital and also from Wolf Ventures and Advantage Capital Partners.
Dealbase Corp., San Mateo, Calif. - Delivers a comprehensive list of hotel deals along with analysis of the deal. Raised $1 million Series A from Russ Siegelman, an affiliated partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Bob Zipp, managing director of Amicus Capital; and Josh Hannah, general partner at Matrix Partners and former chief executive of eHow.com.
Derbysoft (Shanghai) Co., Shanghai - Provides Internet marketing technology for the tourism, hotels, and the hospitality distribution industry. Raised $5 million in part from Northern Light Venture Capital.
Escapia Inc., Seattle - Sells Web-based management and marketing tools for vacation rental managers. Secured a $1.6 million round of funding led by existing investors including Steven D. Murch, Buerk Dale Victor and Atlas Accelerator.
LeisureLink Inc., Pasadena, Calif. - Offers a management platform for vacation property owners. Raised a $6 million Series B tranche from existing investors Clearstone Venture Partners and Mission Ventures and from angel investors. At the time of our story in March, the round had been left open for another potential $2 million.
RideCharge Inc., Alexandria, Va. - Maker of an online and mobile application that enables business travelers to book and pay for ground transportation via mobile phone. Raised a $4.6 million round of Series B financing led by Concur Technologies Inc.
Ruba Inc., San Francisco - Its user-generated content site provides a quick way for people to browse through travel ideas, focusing on images to draw them in. Raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Benchmark Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
Tripwolf GmbH, Vienna - Provides travel guide information written by both professionals and users. Picked up $2.5 million in second-round funding led by existing investor MairDumont Group GmbH and including Dieter von Holtzbrinck, formerly the head of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which owns large German newspapers and technology investing firm Holtzbrinck Ventures.
TVtrip Inc., Paris - Its Web site produces online videos to show people what they can expect from their stay at hotels across Europe. Raised $9 million in Series B funding from original investors Balderton Capital, Partech International and AGF Private Equity.
Yapta Inc., Seattle - Operates an online travel shopping service that monitors airfare and hotel prices for travelers. Closed a $2 million Series B insider round led by Voyager Capital, and including Bay Partners, First Round Capital, Swiftsure Capital, W Media Ventures and private investors.
