Friday, May 24th, 2013
November 19, 2012 by Terence LEE
LCO-Creation, a Japanese startup that makes travel apps, has indicated that they’ve received funding from Singapore-based incubator TechCube8. It announced the deal in a press release last month, without disclosing terms.
Founded by CEO Yuki Hiraki and COO Saki Kobayashi, the company recently relocated its HQ to Singapore in order to focus on growth in Asia. Read more
November 14, 2012 by Terence LEE
US short-term rental website Airbnb is stepping up its expansion into Asia, with an office already being set up in Singapore, reported CNET Asia.
The writer notes that instead of acquiring a local player, a strategy that Birchbox and Groupon employs, Airbnb has decided to compete directly with the likes of Roomorama, Travelmob, and iBilik instead. It will also be fighting for market share with 9flats, a German company that set up shop in Singapore last year.
Users accessing the Airbnb website in Singapore will be instantly redirected to www.airbnb.com.sg. The site has support for many Asian currencies like the Indonesian Rupiah, Japanese Yen, and the Philippine Peso. However, only English is available for now.
November 12, 2012 by Terence LEE
Indonesian travel search engine Traveloka announced today that it has received an investment from East Ventures, an early stage VC firm based in Singapore and Indonesia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The site has gotten off to an encouraging start since launching a month ago. So far, it has served over 400,000 flight searches for users from over 200 cities.
Traveloka helps users discover and compare flight deals after they key in details for departure, destination, and travel dates. Once they’ve decided on a flight, they will be redirected either to the airline’s page or Tiket.com, another Indonesian travel startup, to make a booking.
September 26, 2012 by Terence LEE
Singapore-based short-term rental marketplace Travelmob announced yesterday that it has raised USD1M in seed funding. The round is led by Jungle Ventures with participation from Silicon Valley VC firm Accel Partners and private investors around the region.
Founded in July 2012, Travelmob allows hosts to list their place on the website as travel accommodation for tourists. It is similar to sites such as Airbnb, 9flats, and Roomorama.
The startup is founded by Turochas “T” Fuad and Prashant Kirtane. Turochas was the managing director for Skype Asia while Prashant was the senior director of engineering at Yahoo!. Read more
July 26, 2012 by Sharon Lourdes Paul
The travel and tourism industry is one of the world’s largest, so it’s inevitable that many startups want to be a part of it. In Singapore, many travel startups have gotten quite a bit of attention too.
But not for one particular company, which had been quietly working the ground for the past few months. Now, however, it seems poised for Primetime.
The Singapore-based startup is ranked 63rd in the country on Alexa – closely behind Agoda and ahead of eBay and Tripadvisor. Its global Alexa ranking of around 20,000 places it in the region of Hipmunk, a highly-touted Silicon Valley travel site.
In additon, it has a partnership with the Taiwan tourism board, secured a seed funding of S$2.2M (US$1.75M) from Lunar Asia Investment, and hired a 15-strong team.
I’m talking about Qiito (pronounced key-tow). What started as a simple product review for me soon grew into an in-depth interview. For those curious about the company, here are some insights from the company’s founder and CEO, Pei-Han Chuang.
July 25, 2012 by Terence LEE
The Luxe Nomad, a service that offers up to 70 percent off luxury hotels and villas for members, has launched in beta, the company announced in a press release today.
The private flash sales site currently has more than 100 hotels available, including Sri Panwa in Phuket and The Upper House in Hong Kong. Each sale lasts between seven to ten days, giving members a short window to purchase their deals. Read more
June 28, 2012 by Terence LEE
We’ve just been told that Flocations, a Singapore travel discovery startup, is now powering budget airline AirAsia’s new app on Google Chrome.
Flocations is essentially a web service that lets users search for plane tickets by price. They can also set the desired destination and duration of their trip. Read more
June 12, 2012 by Terence LEE
The Luxe Nomad, a luxury travel site, has agreed to an investment deal of undisclosed terms with Tigris Capital and government agency SPRING Singapore during Echelon 2012, reported e27.
Founded by former Malaysian model Stephanie Chai, The Luxe Nomad curates luxury hotels and resorts and offers special prices at up to 70 percent discount to its members, free-of-charge. Read more
May 29, 2012 by Terence LEE
Wego, a travel metasearch company focused on the Asia-Pacific, announced yesterday that it has invested in Valadoo, an Indonesia-based social commerce travel business that provides members with a curated selection of unique, discounted travel offers targeting the country’s growing number of leisure travelers.
This investment is part of the Singapore-based company’s strategy to develop the Indonesian travel industry, which is one of the fastest growing in Asia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Valadoo offers getaways to both domestic and international destinations, such as exotic dive packages in Raja Ampat Papua, as well as shopping trips to Hong Kong and Singapore. Read more
May 4, 2012 by Sharon Lourdes Paul
As a student bitten by the wanderlust bug, Flocations sure calls out to me. It is a travel discovery app that aims to help visitors discover new places based on a predetermined budget.
Throughout the JFDI-Innov8 2012 Bootcamp, the Singapore-based team had been iterating their product, with much focus on improving its user experience. They overhauled their entire site last month. Here is a round up of three key features they have:
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