$318 million for flying taxis

Robo-taxis, flying taxis, electric planes and renewable jet fuel. Next-generation mobility is the theme in this startup funding gap.

The most notable fundraising was $5.5 billion by Waymo, which is expanding robotaxis in the US. The startup already operates the service in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, as well as pickup services from Sky Harbor International Airport. And the startup says its driverless cars could go on road trips in the future.

Beta Technologies, among several players developing flying taxis, raised $318 million. It is the second largest growth in the sector this year, the largest 500 million dollars for Joby Aviation last month.

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

Waymo: $5.5 billion

Waymowhich operates an autonomous ride-hailing service in US cities, has 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 cars operate without a driver, using an AI driving system that the startup has been developing since 2009. The company originated as a project by Google before expanding.

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

The funds will also support advancements in Waymo Driver, Waymo’s self-driving system designed for various commercial applications.

The company has experimented with more complex trips, such as road trips to cities such as Buffalo, New York, and Washington, DC

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 now raised over $1 billion in equity capital.

The Vermont company is developing two electric planes, one that takes off vertically and one that takes off conventionally. It targets the commercial and commodity industries.

It recently completed a number of test flights, including between New York’s JFK and LGA airports.

The company opened a nearly 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility last year, which it says has the capacity to produce up to 300 planes a year. Production has started, with plans to increase production rates in the next two years.

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

It has also built a charging system for electric aircraft, with plans to deploy the products in US airports and internationally.

The funding will go towards accelerating the production, certification and deployment of the vehicles.

Blacklane: $65 million

Blacklanea driver service app, has raised $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 types of luxury chauffeured services for consumers and business travelers, bookable via an app, in over 200 CITIES all around the world.

Services include airport transfers, city-to-city travel, hourly and daily bookings, transportation in Dubai and Miami.

The funding will be used to grow each of the company’s business lines, as well as establish operations in new locations.

(See Skift’s story.)

TripFactory: $50 million

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

The deal values ​​the company at $500 million, the company said.

Singapore-based TripFactory offers the holiday packages to travel agents, who can then sell them to their customers. Consumers can also book holidays through the TripFactory website.

The funding will be directed towards expanding the business, adding new products and improving current offerings.

Beyond Aero: $20 million

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

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

The France-based company’s aircraft, One, is designed to carry six to eight passengers over 800 nautical miles. The aircraft’s electrical system is powered by hydrogen propulsion. The company is building a lab to test all the components of its system.

Beyond Aero aims to enter the market by 2030.

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

Cruise: $13 million

Cruisean online travel agency for cruises, has raised $13 million in venture capital.

Thayer Ventures led the round, with backing 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 cabin booking for 24 hours, multi-cabin bookings and flexible payment options.

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

The company says it has seen “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 directed towards strengthening the product offering.

Radical storage: $7 million

Radical storagean app for booking luggage storage, has high USD 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. Over $2 million came from a crowdfunding campaign through the Mamacrowd platform.

The Italian startup allows travelers to temporarily store luggage in places like coffee shops and supermarkets. The app has more than 9,000 storage locations in 1,000 cities in 70 countries.

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

Universal Fuel Technologies: $3 million

Universal fuel technologieswhich turns 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 startup says its technology produces fuel materials including ethanol, methanol, renewable naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas. Much of the feedstock is byproducts of other companies’ renewable jet fuel development processes, the company said.

The funding will go towards further developing the technology and establishing a laboratory in Texas for pilot production.

Jobs: $2.6 million

Workplaceswhich handles group hotel room reservations for the dating industry, has raised $2.6 million in seed funding.

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

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

Customers include SeatGeek, RevenueCat and Yieldmo.

The funding will be directed towards the development of the platform and the expansion of the customer base.

BuzzAR: $1.2 million

BuzzARan AI tour guide for travel companies, has high $1.2 million from the HSBC New Economy Fund.

Singapore-based BuzzAR has developed an AI-based avatar that is meant to act as a digital tour guide. The startup’s customers can give travelers access to their avatar through a mobile app. The bot can provide travelers with information about their vacation destinations, and travelers can complete certain bookings using the tool.

The startup is partnering with the Saudi Tourism Authority, among others.

The funding will be earmarked for expansion in the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

Company	Stage	lead	Elevate
Waymo	Not specified	Alphabet	5.5 billion dollars
Beta Technologies	Series C	QIA	318 million dollars
Blacklane	Series G	Tasaru Mobility Investments	65 million dollars
TripFactory	Series A	Undisclosed	50 million dollars
Beyond Aero	Series A	Giant Ventures, Bpifrance	20 million dollars
Cruise	Not specified	Thayer Ventures	13 million dollars
Radical storage	Series A	CDP venture capital, ALIcrowd III	7 million dollars
Universal Fuel Tech	Seed	AT VC	3 million dollars
Workplaces	Pre-seed	Ocean Ventures	2.6 million dollars
BuzzAR	Seed	HSBC Fund for the New Economy	1.2 million dollars