prabhuTechnology has opened up the world – and innovators have made the most of it, creating solutions that make travel simpler, cheaper, and much more comfortable.
For this week’s Top 10 in Tech – our weekly look at the leaders in London’s burgeoning startups scene – we’ve used Tech Nation’s Data Commons to investigate the startups changing how people holiday, explore, or travel for work.
It shows how much revenue is available for forward-thinking entrepreneurs – whether that’s through offering ways to make holidays more affordable without sacrificing quality, or finding ways to streamline the experience for the world’s most high-value travellers. There’s also a fair amount of innovation aimed at helping leisure providers – including hotels and hostels – letting them reach and retain a wider audience.
Let’s have a look at the results.
1. onefinestay
There are at least 10,000 high-quality rental homes available through onefinestay – whose platform opens up the doors to the world’s finest homes and villas. They hand-pick each property, refining their list to about 10% of those that want to be listed, so travellers know they’re getting only the best.
Founded: 2009
Value: £134 million (€148 million)
2. Citymapper
You’ll know Citymapper if you’ve travelled around many of the UK’s cities – and it’s available in locations as far as Sydney. The app makes travelling within cities as easy as possible, finding the quickest routes to travellers’ destinations using open data and modern payment systems.
Founded: 2011
Value: At least £131 million ($160 million)
3. HouseTrip
Now owned by TripAdvisor rentals, HouseTrip lets savvy searchers find great-value holiday rentals. They describe their offerings as the “ideal alternative to hotels”.
Founded: 2010
Value: At least £131 million ($160 million)
4. SilverRail
SilverRail knows the benefits of rail travel – sustainability, comfort, speed and affordability – so it’s committed to improving rail’s online customer experience. Their modernising campaign hopes to unify all the diffuse systems currently in use, streamlining train travel to make more people enthusiastic about using it.
Founded: 2009
Value: At least £131 million ($160 million)
5. Duffel
Young startup Duffel wants to totally redesign how we travel – but is remaining fairly private about just how. It’s backed by Y Combinator, and is producing “a new way to book travel online”.
Founded: 2017
Value: At least £70 million ($86 million)
6. Victor
You too can charter a private jet with Victor, should you have the finances. As well as providing top-class private planes for clients, they are committed to offsetting every flight they offer by 200% or more – and in 2018, 25% of their flights in Europe flew totally carbon neutral.
Founded: 2010
Value: At least £59 million ($72 million)
7. The Plum Guide
“The top 1% of homes in the world” are offered by The Plum Guide, an online provider of holiday rentals. They’ve reviewed more than 400,000 homes and accepted just 6,000 – and are going through every possible option to select the very best for holidaymakers.
Founded: 2015
Value: At least £56 million
8. Hostmaker
If you’re an Airbnb host, upkeep and property management can be difficult. Hostmaker’s end-to-end service helps hosts with more than 10 listings achieve up to 30% higher returns on their properties, offering an online service to help them keep track of their portfolio.
Founded: 2014
Value: At least $60 million
9. Love Home Swap
“The world’s favourite home exchange club”, Love Home Swap makes finding somewhere to stay abroad simpler. Users can search for what they want and swap houses with people all around the world, so they can travel confidently and keep costs down.
Founded: 2011
Value: £40 million
10. Veeve
Many people love a city break, and Veeve helps them find the best locations. They offer more than 2,000 curated homes in London, Paris and LA, including housekeeping, concierge, linen, and meet & greet services.
Founded: 2011
Value: At least €40 million
