Berlin social travel startup Mapify has announced raising $1 million in seed funding from U.S. and Europe-based funds and angel investors.
TechCrunch
Will Uber Go “Belly Up” in 2017?
Mixed news from ridesharing behemoth Uber this week does not bode well for investors in the venture. With a pile of lawsuits, and losses expected to exceed $3 billion for the year, some experts fear no profitability in the near future.
Air Booking Site OneTwoTrip: Worth $9 Mil Funding?
When I saw that TechCrunch had announced Russian travel startup OneTwoTrip’s recent $9 million funding round, I have to admit I was skeptical. For one thing, even though the Russian Federation has some of the world’s best programmers and developers, in general web entities from there generally suck. And pretty bad too.
Triposo Mechanized
Triposo, the brainchild travel startup from ex-Googler’s Jon Tirsen and Douwe Osinga, just announced their new iOS app, the story arriving via TechCrunch. So, Argo Travel News decided to take a look under the hood of this fascinating new travel guide/suggestion engine.
Twigmore Puts People First in Travel
A new startup called Twigmore is aimed directly at putting people and their real impressions of “places” in the correct order. Unlike many “geocentric” travel tools, this new entry tries to arrange for local review wisdom for your trip planning. At least this seems like the gist.
Gowalla: Will It Be Google’s Next Announcement?
It was inevitable once Google announced they were to acquire Zagat, the race for lost applications to engage travel. TechCrunch already reported on Gowalla, so did GigaOm, PC Mag, anyone “interested” in Gowalla. Chief Executive Josh Williams, according to PC Magazine, the Gowalla site will “re-focus” primarily on travel now. The selling point being, in depth guides, travel stories, relating the experience of travel – all conveniently on Gowalla.
Argophilia Launches Citizen’s Travel Portal
Argophilia Travel Albania launches as the first of many regional travel directories aimed at introducing Eastern Europe’s hidden gems. Breathtaking places sit undiscovered by most of the world’s top travel businesses, a scattered lot of informative sites offer little or no value to travelers or local businesses, but Argo addresses the problem directly.
Google + and Really Refined Reviews – Coming Soon
The suggested Google Travel entity could be just around the corner. According to the news from Tnooz and Kevin May, Google unceremoniously yanked third party reviews from hotels on Google Maps and Google Places, a move May suggests puts Google’s review credibility down there with TripAdvisor’s. But what if?
Will Google Launch Their ITA Travel Weapon?
According to TechCrunch’s reliable network of source, Google may well roll out an integrated ITA search platform within days. A report by TC’s Leena Rao 16 hours ago suggests Google’s recent acquisition may in fact be the forboding nightmare Microsoft, Expedia, and others feared.
Seamlessly Topguest Hypes Best Western Union
Okay, I have finally had enough. Looking into the travel tech footlocker of startups out there, potential is about all there is out there at the moment. And for Best Western and a company called TopGuest, a bit of scornful ranting due from a Web 2.0 evangelist from the early days. The reason, someone out there in PR land still thinks everything needs to be “seamless” in its integration. BS