$318 million for flying taxis

Robot taxis, flying taxis, electric planes and renewable aviation fuel. Next-gen mobility is the topic of this startup funding roundup.

The most notable fundraising was $5.5 billion from Waymo, which is expanding its robotaxi business across the United States. The startup already provides this service in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, and also provides transfers at Sky Harbor International Airport. The startup claims that its self-driving cars will be able to travel in the future.

Beta Technologies, one of many companies developing flying taxis, has raised $318 million. This is the second highest growth in the sector this year, the highest of which $500 million for Joby Aviation last month.

In addition to these two major fundraises, eight other travel startups have raised more than $160 million in the past three weeks.

Waymo: $5.5 billion

Weimowhich operates an autonomous ride-hailing service in US cities, raised $5.5 billion in an oversubscribed funding round.

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) led the round, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price.

Waymo’s cars operate without a driver using an artificial intelligence control system that the startup has been developing since 2009. The company was born as a Google project and then ceased to exist.

Through a partnership with Uber, the company will begin serving Austin and Atlanta.

The funds will also support the development of Waymo Driver, Waymo’s self-driving system for a variety of commercial applications.

The company is experimenting with more complex trips, such as trips to cities such as Buffalo, New York and Washington, D.C.

Beta technologies: $318 million

Beta Technologieswhich is developing two types of electric aircraft, has raised $318 million in Series C funding.

QIA led the round with support from Fidelity Management & Research Company, TPG Rise Climate, United Therapeutics and others.

The company has raised more than $1 billion in equity capital to date.

A Vermont company is developing two electric planes: one that takes off vertically and the other that takes off conventionally. It is aimed at the commercial and trucking industries.

It recently completed a series of test flights, including between JFK and LGA airports in New York.

Last year, the company opened a nearly 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that it says can produce up to 300 aircraft a year. Production has already begun, with plans to increase production rates over the next two years.

The company has procurement contracts with Air New Zealand, UPS, United Therapeutics, Blade Urban Air Mobility, Bristow, Helijet, LCI, the US Air Force and the US Army.

The company has also created a charging system for electric aircraft and plans to deploy these products at airports in the United States and abroad.

The funding will be used to speed up the production, certification and deployment of vehicles.

Blacklane: $65 million

Blacklanechauffeur service app has raised US$65 million (€60 million) in Series G funding.

Tasaru Mobility Investments, an automotive and mobility investment firm based in Saudi Arabia, led the latest round with support from existing investors.

Berlin-based Blacklane offers several luxury chauffeured services for private and business travelers, bookable via the app, in over 200 cities all over the world.

Services include airport transfers, intercity travel, hourly and daily bookings, and call-up services in Dubai and Miami.

The funding will be used to develop each of the company’s activities, as well as to open operations in new locations.

(View Skift history.)

TripFactory: $50 million

TripFactorywhich sells vacation packages, has raised $50 million in Series A funding from an unknown corporate group based in India.

According to the company, the transaction value is estimated at $500 million.

Singapore-based TripFactory provides travel packages to travel agents, who can then sell them to their clients. Consumers can also book vacations through the TripFactory website.

The funding will be used to expand the business, add new products and improve current offerings.

Outside Aero: $20 million

Beyond Aerowhich is developing a hydrogen-electric plane for business travel, has raised $20 million in Series A funding.

Giant Ventures and Bpifrance co-led the round, with support from Initialized Capital and a group of athletes.

The French company’s One aircraft is designed to carry six to eight passengers over a range of 800 nautical miles. The aircraft’s electrical system is powered by a hydrogen power plant. The company is building a laboratory to test all components of its system.

Beyond Aero plans to enter the market by 2030.

The company has letters of intent worth $914 million to purchase 108 aircraft.

Cruise: $13 million

Cruiseonline cruise travel agency, raised $13 million in venture capital.

Thayer Ventures led the round with support from Link Ventures, former Booking Holdings CEO Jeff Boyd, PAR Capital Ventures, former Tripadvisor CEO Steve Kaufer, Flybridge, Plug & Play Ventures and others.

New York-based Cruisebound says it offers more than 27,000 itineraries from 19 major cruise lines. The booking platform offers real-time pricing, instant booking, free 24-hour cabin booking, multi-cabin booking and flexible payment options.

It also has an AI chatbot for customer service and travel planning.

The company says it has “triple-digit annual revenue growth” with a customer base that averages 37 years old, 10 years younger than the industry average.

The funding will be used to strengthen product offerings.

Radical Vault: $7 million

Radical Vaultapplication for booking luggage storage, has raised $7 million (€6.5 million) in Series A funding.

The round was co-led by CDP Venture Capital, Azimut’s ALICrowd III fund and Opes Italia Sicaf, with participation from Finint Investments and Vertis. More than $2 million came from a crowdfunding campaign through the Mamarowd platform.

An Italian startup allows travelers to temporarily store their luggage in places like cafes and supermarkets. The app has over 9,000 storage locations in 1,000 cities in 70 countries.

The funding will go toward adding more local businesses to the platform, with a goal of reaching 30,000 locations by 2027.

Versatile Fuel Technologies: $3 million

Universal fuel technologieswhich converts renewable materials into jet fuel, has raised $3 million in seed funding.

The round was led by TO VC with participation from Alchemist Accelerator, Claire Technologies and World Star Aviation.

The California-based startup says its technology produces fuel materials including ethanol, methanol, renewable naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas. Most of the feedstock is byproducts of other companies’ renewable jet fuel development processes, the company said.

The funding will go toward further development of the technology and the creation of a laboratory in Texas for pilot production.

Work sites: $2.6 million.

Work siteswhich provides group hotel reservations for the meetings industry, has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding.

Oceans Ventures led the round with support from Hannah Gray, Volo Ventures and Deftly.vc.

Based in New York City, Workgrounds is an AI-powered platform designed to streamline the manual processes involved in sourcing, negotiating and managing hotel room blocks for corporate teams.

Clients include SeatGeek, RevenueCat and Yieldmo.

The funding will be used to develop the platform and expand the customer base.

BuzzAR: $1.2 million

BuzzARguide with artificial intelligence for travel companies, has raised $1.2 million from HSBC’s New Economy Fund.

Singapore-based company BuzzAR has developed an artificial intelligence-based avatar that will serve as a digital guide. The startup’s clients can provide travelers with access to an avatar through a mobile application. The bot can provide travelers with information about their vacation destinations, and travelers can make certain reservations using the tool.

The startup cooperates, in particular, with the Saudi Arabian Tourism Authority.

The funding will go toward expansion in the Middle East and North Africa region, especially in Saudi Arabia.

Company	Stage	News	lift
Waymo	Not specified	Alphabet	$5.5 billion
Beta Technologies	Series C	KIA	$318 million
Blacklane	Series G	Tasaru Mobility Investments	$65 million
TripFactory	Serie A	Undisclosed	50 million dollars
Beyond Aero	Serie A	Giant Ventures, Bpifrance	$20 million
Cruise	Not specified	Thayer Ventures	$13 million
Radical Vault	Serie A	CDP Venture Capital, AL Crowd III	$7 million
Universal fuel technology	Seed	In VK	$3 million
Work sites	Pre-sowing	Oceans Ventures	$2.6 million
BuzzAR	Seed	HSBC New Economy Fund	$1.2 million