Skift Take
These startups are modernizing tour packages, timeshares, and tipping systems with digital products.
Justin Dawes
The three startups on this week’s list are modern takes on old ways of doing business in three travel verticals: tour packages, timeshares, and hospitality tips.
Modernization has been particularly slow in each of these sectors, and the growth of notable companies indicates that there is a demand for modernization.
This week, the three startups announced funding totaling more than $104 million.
Exotica: $65.1 million
Exoticca, a platform for selling multi-day tour packages, has raised $65.1 million (€60 million) in Series D funding.
The round was led by Quadrille Capital and backed by All Iron, ICF, 14W, Mangrove, Bonsai, Sabadell and Aldea. The company raised $30 million in its last round of funding in 2021.
Barcelona-based Exotica said its technology offers connections to flights, hotels, meals, transfers, transport and activities all in one place. This allows the company to sell complex packages based on real-time pricing and availability, which it claims slash prices by 30% compared to booking different parts of a trip separately.
The platform offers over 70 destinations across the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Colombia and Mexico.
“As other parts of the travel industry go digital, the multi-day tour sector remains stagnant, locking customers into an inconsistent and time-consuming booking experience. At Exoticca, our mission is to bring multi-day tour packages into the digital age, making the trip of your dreams affordable for everyone,” Exoticca CEO Pere Valles said in a statement.
The funding will be used to enhance the platform with AI, improve customer experience, expand into new markets, and acquire new customers.
The platform also includes a concierge app for monitoring and customer service regarding all the products included in the package.
Not a hotel: $35 million
Not a Hotel, which sells fractional ownership of vacation homes in Japan, has raised $35 million in Series B funding.
The startup operates by selling a portion of a villa to customers, which equates to a certain number of nights that can be booked at that property, ranging from 30 nights to a year. Customers can also book nights at other villas in the portfolio. Bookings are made through the app.
The company expects sales of approximately $650 million (100 billion yen) over the next two years.
Since it was founded four years ago, the company has won $148 million in contracts, signed 597 customers and opened nine locations.
Grazy: $4 million
Grazzy, a software product for digital chips, has raised $4 million in its second seed round.
Next Coast Ventures led the round, with backing from AZ-VC, InRevenue Capital, Iron Skillet Partners and Tuesday Capital. The company raised its first seed round in 2023.
Texas-based Grazzy allows guests to pay tips digitally by scanning a QR code that can be linked to an individual, team, room, or floor, and employees receive their payment the same day, along with tax information.
Grazzy is approved for use in hotels across all four major brands: Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and IHG. Hotels can integrate the product into their core technology systems.
“We’re serving a marketplace with a severe labor shortage with a solution that gets more money to frontline workers more frequently,” Grazzy founder and CEO Russell Remar said in a statement. “The Grazzy platform has sent millions of dollars directly into the wallets of thousands of employees, and we’ve done this while saving our enterprise clients thousands of dollars each month in recruiting and retention costs.”
The startup announced that it has grown its customer base 100-fold over the past 18 months.
The funding will be used for hiring, acquiring new customers, expanding partnerships and enhancing the product.
Company Stage Lead RaiseExoticca Series DQuadrille Capital $65.1 million Hotel Unspecified Series B $35 million GrazzySeed Next Coast Ventures $4 million
Skift Cheat Sheet
Seed capital is money used to start a business led by angel investors, friends, family, etc.
Series A funding typically comes from venture capitalists. The purpose of this round is to allow startup founders to ensure that their product is something customers actually want to buy.
Series B funding is primarily provided by venture capital firms to help companies accelerate their growth. These funding rounds help in hiring skilled workers and developing cost-effective marketing.
Series C funding is usually to help a company expand, for example through an acquisition. In addition to venture capitalists, hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity firms often participate.
Series D, E and beyond are primarily mature businesses, and funding rounds can help a company prepare for an IPO or acquisition. Many different types of private investors may participate.
Photo credit: Pictured is the Algarve region on the southern tip of Portugal. Exoticca offers Algarve travel packages.
