Share of COmpanies and Funding (%) by Horizontal Categories, 2005-2Q17 (excluding outliers) — Photo by Phocuswright
Travel-Specific incubators, accelerators, business labs and entrepreneur programs are surging — Photo by Phocuswright

Innovation Isn't Just for Startups
Startup and emerging companies take The Phocuswright Conference Summit stage on Tuesday, November 7, to showcase their travel innovations. But established companies are changing the travel landscape too. Companies 48 months or older are invited to apply for the few remaining spots at Launch, held Wednesday, November 8. Learn more about Launch here and see if you're eligible to take the stage.

In Search of the Next Uber

Founders launched nearly 1,500 digital travel startups since 2005, attracting $62 billion in funding. Nearly 80% of that funding has been raised since 2015, and the lion's share has gone to just a handful of companies. These big winners – including Uber, Airbnb and APAC superstars Didi Chuxing and Kuaidi Dache – are almost exclusively in the ground transportation and private accommodations segments. But while these relative newcomers are still flying high (and Uber hopes to fly even higher with addition of Expedia's former CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi), investors are always looking to the future.

In addition to inspiring numerous also-rans, the wild success of these outliers had another effect: They unleashed a flood of travel-focused investors, incubators and support programs, all in search of the next promising startup. Mobile and the sharing economy are already old news – what's next? It's still early days, but interest in artificial intelligence, voice and messaging is on the rise. While the horizontal category accounts for just 5% of startups, it wasn't long ago that mobile and peer-to-peer were a blip on the radar.

Artificial intelligence, which combines machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing and cognitive computing, is poised to be the next major disruptor. Many of the startups and established players who are using AI to move the industry forward will be on stage at The Phocuswright Conference – from Google to innovators like Freebird, Mezi, Pablow, Sift Science and Travel Appeal. And Phocuswright's Street Talk roundtable brings leading travel industry investors together to help you follow the money.

Be ready for the future of travel. Register now.

Eugene Ko
Sr. Manager, Marketing and Communications
+1 646 380-6273