Here’s the overview of the most exciting startups and scale-ups with a burning passion to transform hospitality & travel. Spanning resorts & hotels, restaurant tech, casino tech, spa & wellness, golf tech, cruises, car rental, ultra-luxurious travel, AI-driven planning, activity booking, sustainability and business travel.
While compiling a complete list is challenging due to rapidly evolving funding landscapes, these are standout companies driving innovation. In total there are 50.000+ hospitality and travel startups and companies.
Check this guide if you're just getting started yourself with your own startup.
And if you're curious about the top 100 problems with solutions that hospitality startups experience... Check this guide.
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Startups and Scale-ups in Hospitality and Travel
Hospitality & Accommodation Tech
- Domits – Digital Infrastructure for luxury vacation rental managers.
- Holidu – Vacation rental search engine that aggregates listings across platforms to simplify bookings.
- Mews – European cloud-based property management system streamlining booking, check-ins, payments, and back-office work.
- Click&Boat – Peer-to-peer boat rental platform with boats, yachts, and sailboats in 50+ countries.
- SamBoat – Offers boat rentals with or without a skipper, from private owners or companies.
- Yescapa – Peer-to-peer campervan and motorhome rental platform with insurance and roadside assistance.
- Guesty – Property management SaaS for short-term rentals, notable in the Middle East.
- Hostaway – Vacation rental software that connects with platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.
- Ukio – Long-term rental service targeting remote workers, offering furnished apartments with concierge services.
- Apps for peer-to-peer renting vacation homes, boats and campers
Revenue Management Tech
- Pricelabs – Revenue management and dynamic pricing for vacation rentals.
- Beyond – Demand-based pricing, pacing metrics and minimum stay rules for vacation rentals.
- Wheelhouse – Smart pricing engine and competitor benchmarking for vacation rentals.
- RoomPriceGenie – Easy setup, automatic updates, good for small hotels.
- Smartness – Dynamic pricing based on demand, events and competition.
- RevControl – Automated rate suggestions, pickup analysis and competitor tracking
- Lighthouse – A London-based unicorn offering AI-powered hotel room pricing tools used by major chains.
- Revenue management and advanced dynamic pricing startups and scale-ups.
Restaurant Tech
- Tebi (Netherlands) – A hospitality financial OS designed for independent operators.
- Owner.com – Enables restaurants to reclaim customer and delivery data while avoiding third-party fees.
- Zenchef (France) – Helps restaurants manage reservations, tables, payments, and guest communication.
- Lunchbox – Digital marketing and ordering solutions for independent restaurants.
- BentoBox – Helps restaurants own their online presence with integrated ordering, website, and marketing tools
- Discover the restaurant tech ecosystem
Wellness & Spa Tech
- Mindbody – Scheduling, booking, CRM for spas and fitness
- Book4Time – Enterprise-level spa booking platform (used by Four Seasons, Accor)
- Aescape AI-powered massage robot arms, aimed at deploying automated wellness treatments within hotels and fitness clubs
- Discover the wellness & spa hospitality ecosystem
Casino Tech
- Winna.com – Crypto-only casino and sportsbook platform with new PvP game development and blockchain‑based VIP rewards
- Midnite – Regulated online gambling and casino platform
- Monkey Tilt – Entertainment/gaming platform pivoting into advanced, collaborative digital gaming
- Aqua Gaming – Israel/Spain-based AI-driven live dealer content platform focused on immersive and personalized real‑money gaming experiences
- Phenom Poker – Decentralized (blockchain) poker startup
- Discover the global casino ecosystem
Golf Tech
- Golfmanager — A cloud-based, all-in-one club and resort management platform
- Clubessential — The platform includes membership services, billing, payments integration, and club operations tools
- Sportsbox AI — U.S. startup offering markerless, sensor‑free 3D motion analysis from a single slow‑motion swing video
- deWiz Golf — Swedish wearable training band providing real‑time feedback on swing mechanics using neuroscience data
- PlaySight Interactive — Began in other sports, but expanding into golf: AI‑powered connected video and analytics platform for teaching centers and hospitality venues
- Discover the global golf hospitality ecosystem
Cruise Line Tech
- CruiseHub – A tech-forward booking platform that partners with major cruise lines (Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages, MSC), blending AI and human advisors to elevate customer experience and champion sustainable cruising practices
- ChooseCruise - Uses AI to simplify cruise discovery by analyzing users’ preferences, budget, and past searches to deliver personalized recommendations—and even track price drops to help users save up to 80% on cabins. It allows direct booking without redirecting users externally
- Cruisen - An AI-empowered, mobile-first app focused on group cruise bookings
- My Kind of Cruise - Marketed as the “Airbnb of cruises,” this fully bookable cruise app features seamless search, comparison, and booking—all within the app
- Discover the global cruise line ecosystem
Car Rental Tech
- SnappCar (Netherlands) - Peer-to-peer car-sharing platform in Europe, offering an alternative to traditional car ownership
- WeFlex (UK) - Specializes in electric vehicle leasing and rental, particularly for Uber drivers through rent-to-own agreements.
- Lizy (Germany) - Digital car leasing platform offering flexible subscription models, catering to consumers seeking short-term vehicle access without long-term commitments.
- Inshur (UK) - Provides AI-driven commercial insurance solutions tailored for on-demand mobility drivers, fleet operators, and delivery services, enhancing the rental experience with real-time coverage adjustments.
- Discover the global car rental tech ecosystem
AI & Tech-Driven Planning
- Layla AI – An AI-based trip planner offering slick UI and interactive itinerary building.
- Mindtrip – AI itinerary generator transforming content (blogs, videos) into trip plans; funded with $20M.
- Airial Travel – An AI startup extracting itineraries from TikToks, Reels, and travel blogs—making them bookable and logistics-aware.
- GuideGeek – AI travel assistant using OpenAI tech live on Instagram/WhatsApp for customized recommendations.
- Wonderplan - A free AI trip planner that generates personalized itineraries from your preferences.
- Vacay – Redefines travel planning with precision and personalization at its core.
- AcaiTravel – AI agents for travel contact centers.
- Discover all AI Travel Agents in the Agentic AI Ecosystem
Activity & Experience Booking
- GetYourGuide – Leading platform for booking tours, museums, experiences in 11,000+ cities.
- Musement – TUI-owned booking portal for activities, shows, museums worldwide.
- Tiqets – Focused on museum and attraction tickets to bypass queues.
- Withlocals – Dutch startup connecting travelers with home-cooked meals and local experiences.
- Viavii – Middle East-based marketplace for booking local experiences, supported by Google Startups.
- Byway – Flight-free booking platform for train/ferry travel across Europe and beyond.
Sustainability & Unique Niches
- Pachama – Uses AI and remote sensing to validate forest carbon credits; travel brands use it for carbon offsetting.
- Few & Far, Under Canvas – Eco-conscious glamping and conservation-tourism ventures.
- TripDoodler – Copenhagen-based platform rating sustainable travel options, including carbon emissions calculator.
- Destinus – Swiss aerospace startup building hypersonic hydrogen passenger aircraft—high-end concept today.
Mobility & Transfer Services
- Daytrip – Car-for-hire with local English-speaking drivers across 120+ countries.
- Duffel – API-driven platform enabling flight bookings from multiple airlines for businesses.
- Omio – Aggregates multimodal transport (train, bus, flights) across Europe/North America.
Business & Corporate Travel
- TravelPerk/Navan – End-to-end corporate travel and expense management platform using AI and integrated payment tools; TravelPerk has raised ~$864M.
- TripActions – All-in-one corporate travel solution valued at ~$2.2B, offering trips, booking, and expense management.
- Hotel Engine – Now “Engine,” simplifies lodging for companies; recently raised $140M, valuing at $2.1B.
- Spotnana – Streamlining business travel with modern tools (Expense & booking).
- Rocketrip, Upside.com, Mint House, Traxo – Covering travel spend incentives, corporate booking, alternative lodging, and itinerary aggregation.
Why These Stand Out
- Scale & Funding: Some are unicorns or nearing, with valuations exceeding $1B.
- Tech-first: Heavy use of AI, machine learning, APIs and personalization.
- Diverse focus: Covering accommodations, business travel, leisure and experiences.
- Global spread: HQs in North America, Europe, Middle East, catering to wide geographies.
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