List of industry’s most exciting emerging companies revealed at Phocuswright Conference 2022 in Arizona
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – PhocusWire, a comprehensive daily news companion for the travel industry powered by Phocuswright, has announced the names of its ‘Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2023’ list – the most promising and exciting new companies in the travel industry. The announcement comes from the annual Phocuswright Conference, taking place in Phoenix, Arizona, from November 14-17.
The winning companies were selected based on several criteria – growth potential, indicators of innovation, and relevance – and all are start-ups that were founded less than five years ago.
“It has long been said that creativity and innovation often arrive in times of crisis – and our selections of the Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2023 certainly validate that mantra,” said Eugene Ko, Director of Marketing and Communications, at Phocuswright. “Selecting the top 25 was not an easy task. With more than 120 young companies to choose from, we looked for indicators of innovation and growth potential. We have also made an effort to find companies that represent diversity in sector, location and founders.”
Of the 25 winning companies, 14 were founded since the start of 2020 when travel – and much else in the world – came to a halt as people around the world faced the COVID-19 crisis. And nine of the 25 were launched in 2021 – already showing enough promise to warrant a place on the prestigious list.
This year’s Hot 25 are below. Click on the company names for details about each startup, what they have been doing and what they plan to do in the coming year.
Aeronology
AeroPaye
Aidaptive
AltoVita
Buoy
Chooose
Fairlyne
Fetcherr
Flycoin
Fora
GauVendi
Gopass Global
Grapevine
Holibob
Hotelverse
Iomob
Jyrney
Mount
Nectar
NeoKe
Selfbook
StatusMatch
Swayed
TravelX
Zytlyn
The Hot 25 list is now in its fifth year – each time being unveiled at the opening of The Phocuswright Conference, taking place this year in Phoenix.
A bright future
The 2023 Hot 25 list are destined for a bright future. The 100 companies selected in the previous four years of the Hot 25 list have gone on to cumulatively raise funding of $1.7 billion, with TravelPerk (2019 cohort) having received the most funding, at $408.5 million. The 2020 and 2019 cohorts have raised the most money thus far – $630 million and $590 million, respectively.
Seventy percent of the companies operate primarily on a B2B basis. However, B2C businesses have raised nearly as much funding: $811 million to B2B’s $899 million.
Fifty-seven percent of the companies are based in North America, while 30% are headquartered in Europe, 7% in APAC and the rest in the Middle East and South America. North America has trended down over time while Europe has gained ground.
Twenty-nine percent primarily serve the hospitality industry (19% in hotel and hostel and 10% in short-term rentals), 18% work in the air category, 10% are in corporate travel, 6% span multiple verticals and another 6% are in tours and activities.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
