So far this year, 90 rounds have been conducted in technology companies in the tourism sector for an amount of $1084M, an amount that already exceeds the $1022M raised last year in 114 rounds.
This is due to the fact that this year venture operations have been closed for a fairly large amount in large companies, which had already received financing before, such as AirbnbThe Chinese Tujia, a worldwide room rental website, which closed a $475M round and China Tujia which closed a $100M round.
"Within the sector, which is still growing, there are already companies that are taking the lead and, in order to stay ahead of the competition, they are attracting large amounts of investment to accelerate their growth," says Diego Gutierrez from Abra Invest.
Large firms have made a strong commitment to the sector, such as Sequoia capital whose investment model is to invest small amounts in many companies, in 2013 invested a significantly higher amount than its average investment in Skyscannerthe world's second largest flight search company.
Acquisitions in the sector
Another of the ways that companies in the sector are using to grow and open up to new markets are the mergers and acquisitions. In this year 2014, 28 operations have already been carried out, a figure that exceeds the 25 carried out in the whole of 2013.
There are several large American companies that have carried out a large number of mergers and acquisitions in the industry as Tripadvisor and Homeway, who have made 19 purchases each.
Technological sector applied to tourism in Spain
In recent years, IT-oriented companies have also emerged in Spain in the tourism sector and several of them have received funding rounds, such as Minubee, Trip4real and Byhours.
In addition, the government is encouraging this type of business with grants such as the one for Emprendetur, focused on financing R&D projects related to technological innovation and tourism with the aim of supporting research and development applied to products in the tourism sector. The programme, which has been very successful in previous years, is expected to open next November and will be open for a period of 2 months.
If you think that your company could benefit from this aid, please do not hesitate to contact us. Abra-Invest has a team of public finance experts at your disposal.
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