The Paypers’ analysis: travel industry fundings in H1 2026

The Paypers’ Diana Vorniceanu analyses the investment rounds in the travel industry in H1 2026 and discusses the emerging trends.

In the first quarter of 2026, USD 1 billion went into travel startups, down USD 1.2 billion from the same period of 2025. Looking back, the trend is in line with how the sector performed in previous years. Travel tech funding rose to USD 5.8 billion in 2024, a slight increase from USD 5.3 billion in 2023, then fell back under 5 billion in 2025.

Infrastructure as a main target

Mews, a hospitality technology provider, opened the year with the largest round of H1, raising USD 300 million in a Series D led by EQT Growth, with new investors Atomico and HarbourVest Partners, and participation from existing investors Kinnevik, Battery Ventures, and Tiger Global. Announced in January 2026, the investment valued the company at USD 2.5 billion.

The 2025 figures cited in the announcement are worth a close read, as the company’s transaction volume reached USD 19.7 billion across 15,000 customers and over 132,000 monthly active hoteliers in 85 countries, while SaaS gross profit grew 55%.  

Mews plans to use the funding to accelerate Mews Payments, its embedded payment gateway, and expand its investments in artificial intelligence and its wider fintech infrastructure, embedding commerce into the core of hotel operations. The investment round followed the company’s acquisition of DataChat, a generative AI analytics platform which will help Mews make the transition from a property management system towards becoming a tech layer for hotels.

In August 2026, Mews Financial Services B.V. received an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the first held by a hospitality operating system in the EEA. The licence brings risk, fraud monitoring, sanctions screening, and AML controls directly into the operating system. The company aims to leverage the licence to build new financial capabilities tailored for hospitality on top of its existing infrastructure. Regulated capabilities are planned to be rolled out in late 2026, starting with a pilot group of properties in the Netherlands, and then expanding across the region.

Investments in infrastructure go beyond Mews. In February 2026, Stay22 announced that it secured USD 122 million from Summit Partners, which will be used to support its global expansion, product development, and investment in the infrastructure and partner ecosystem. The Canadian company is a technology platform that uses AI to read real-time contextual and behavioural signals, matching audiences with the relevant OTAs, including brands like Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Expedia Group.

France-based AI event procurement platform Naboo raised USD 70 million in a Series B by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Notion Capital, ISAI, and Ternel to take its operations beyond France into the US. Similarly, in March 2026, Travelport received a USD 50 million injection from its shareholders to support its AI development, a move that highlights that established travel infrastructure providers are facing the same pressure to adapt as newer startups.

Entravel Group, a startup launched in 2026 that provides white-label travel connectivity to fintech brands, raised USD 7.5 million. The company plans to use the funds to secure larger supplier credit facilities, process higher booking volumes, expand its white-label model into traditional travel, as well as launch a stablecoin-enabled financial layer for settlement, treasury, and working-capital finance.

Travel and fintech are moving closer together

In March 2026, Vuelo raised GBP 56 million. Out of the total, GBP 6 million in equity was led by Backed VC and Play Ventures, while the remaining GBP 50 million consist of an asset-backed security from Viola Credit. There is some history behind Vuelo, as its CEO previously funded Fly Now Pay Later, which stopped lending and accepting customers in 2023. Vuelo is, therefore, the second attempt at travel BNPL, this time with a different funding structure.

Vuelo is a UK-based, FCA-regulated travel fintech that enables customers to spread travel payments over three to 12 months, supported by personalised payment plans by leveraging a proprietary AI-powered engine. The company plans to use the funding to push its plans to become an AI-native travel booking platform.

Scapia is the second company worth discussing. In May, the Indian fintech raised USD 63 million in a Series C round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Peak XV Partners and Z47. The capital injection brings the company’s total funding to USD 126 million and values it at USD 500 million, more than double the previous valuation from April 2025. The company plans to use the funds to scale its operations in India and accelerate its AI-first approach.

Scapia’s co-branded card, launched in partnership with Federal Bank and BOBCARD, runs on both Visa and RuPay, enabling users to combine cards and UPI-linked credit in a single repayment flow. The company also introduced Airport Privileges as well as a series of features like Scapia Pay, a rewards-first UPI experience, add-on credit cards, credit card bill payments across all banks via BBPS, the Scapia Store, Scapia Experiences, and others. Its rewards programme, Scapia Coins, can be earned on domestic spend and can also be redeemed across travel bookings.

Both Vuelo and Scapia are examples of companies building travel brands that own the credit relationship. HeyMax’s USD 11 million Series A shows a different side of the travel-fintech convergence: loyalty. The company turns everyday spending into a travel rewards currency called Max Miles. Users can redeem the currency when paying for flights, hotels, or transfer it into loyalty programmes for over 30 airlines and hotels.

Odynn, an AI-powered platform enabling banks and fintechs to launch personalised travel and loyalty programs, raised USD 9.5 million. The deal shows that funding in travel loyalty is not limited to consumer-facing rewards platforms and that investors are also backing the infrastructure that powers them.

What can AI do for travel businesses?

Unsurprisingly, AI is a major driver across several notable investments. However, the main theme among the rounds announced so far shows that investors are more interested in AI applications for travel rather than funding AI as a feature.

As such, AI-powered travel agency Fora raised USD 60 million and achieved unicorn status. To date, the company has raised USD 138.5 million in funding. Fora operates as both a platform for travel advisors and a marketplace that helps them connect with travellers. It provides advisors with the needed tools and infrastructure to build their businesses, while travellers can use the platform to find an advisor for trips. The company plans to use the funds to expand its AI assistant, Via, which helps travel advisors research and build travel itineraries.

30 Sundays, an India-based AI-powered vacation planning and booking tool that offers travellers a video-based itinerary that they can change through a conversational interface, raised USD 6.7 million in a Series A round. The company stated that they plan on using the funds to further develop their offering and expand to new geographies and customer segments.

Zerolook, a startup that predicts flight prices, secured USD 1.9 million in pre-seed funding. The startup leverages a machine learning model trained on historical data and offers users itineraries and price predictions.

AI is also making its way into the back office, where it is being used to improve operational and revenue decisions.

Pricepoint, an AI-native hospitality technology company that helps hotels and accommodation providers optimise pricing and revenue performance, closed a USD 6.6 million seed financing round.  

The trend continues into H2. Super.com, which combines travel deals, cashback, and financial tools, raised USD 65 million in a Series D round to expand its membership programme and advance its AI capabilities, showing, once again, that larger travel platforms are also putting capital behind AI as part of their wider growth strategies.

The same shift is visible when it comes to solutions for tour operators. TripWorks, a booking and automation solution for tours and activities operators, raised USD 6 million in Series A funding. The company plans to use the capital to expand its AI and BI capabilities, such as AI-driven pricing, revenue optimisation, and to expand to new geographies.

Consumer travel is still attracting capital

In February 2026, global home swapping platform Kindred announced it raised USD 125 million to scale its operations, making it one of the biggest travel-tech funding rounds of H1. The company operates a members-only home-swapping platform that enables travellers to exchange homes rather than pay for accommodation.

Kindred is an interesting counterpart to the infrastructure and AI-heavy deals that define the travel industry. The investment round shows investors are still interested in backing consumer travel models when they offer different propositions if they show consumer interest. In Kindred’s case, the pitch is less about adding another booking layer and more about making accommodation more affordable by letting people exchange stays in their homes through a trusted community.

WeRoad also closed a USD 58 million Series C round led by Airbnb. The Italian travel-tech that organises group trips that bring travellers together for planned itineraries will leverage the funding to expand to the US, where it plans to launch its travel itineraries and WeMeet events.

India-based community travel platform WanderOn raised USD 5.9 million in its Series A funding round, which it aims to use to scale globally.  Similarly, Mexican OTA Daypass.com, which enables guests to book day passes and one-day tourism services, closed a USD 2 million round for international expansion.

Investors are also funding the problems around the trip

Several funding rounds went to companies focused less on how travellers discover and book trips and more on solving the pain points that come before, during, and after travel.

Atlys, a visa-processing platform, secured USD 36 million in a Series C funding round. The startup plans to use the funding to expand and to scale its AI capabilities, with a focus on automating document checks, eligibility assessment, and traveller support across the visa lifecycle.

Once again, the trend is also visible in H2 2026. Faye, a US-based AI-powered platform for travel protection, raised USD 50 million in Series C funding in August, bringing its total funding to USD 100 million.

The company plans on using the capital to expand into new geographies, grow partnerships with OTAs, airlines, cruise lines, and other travel brands and further develop its AI capabilities. According to the company, Faye aims to use AI to automate more of the insurance journey, from underwriting to claims, with the company expecting AI to handle more than half of claims by EOY.

The funding will also support Faye Wallet, its travel fintech offering, which helps travellers manage money while abroad.

Cover Genius is another H2 example. In July 2026, the global infrastructure for embedded protection that enables companies, including travel businesses, to offer protection within the customer journey announced a USD 100 million capital raise at a USD 1.9 billion valuation. The company plans to use the capital to expand its AI capabilities, strengthen its enterprise partnerships, and grow internationally.

Final thoughts

So, what does all this tell us? Looking at the full picture, a few things stand out:

• The biggest cheques went to companies developing infrastructure.
• AI as a selling point is not enough anymore, as AI gets funded when it solves a specific problem, from pricing to itineraries, insurance claims, to visa checks.
• Travel and fintech keep moving closer together.

This article is part of The Paypers’ Travel Series, which includes contributions on topics spanning emerging trends in travel payments, fraud and security challenges, regulatory and tax impacts, risk management and forex, as well as sustainability in the travel industry. For a complete overview of all the contributions featured, click here.