Investment Opportunities in Travel 

B2C Curated Multi-Day Tour Marketplace

Wake Up Here is a B2C curated marketplace offering intimate small-group (12–18 person) luxury tours for the 50+ market. Our travelers crave life-changing experiences that ‘wake up’ their senses—taste, sound, touch and wonder.

The 50–70-year-old demographic is the fastest-growing in travel, spending 2–3× more on experiences. The tours average $6K-$12K per person with 60%-70% gross margins. We have a highly engaged 30,000-member database. Our first unique packages, U.S. National Parks, Japan and Italy are designed and ready to be sold.

We are an experienced team of 6 who have traveled the globe with deep customer passion led by CEO, Paul Mercuri, who has scaled multiple travel businesses towards eight figures. The business was co-founded with a major U.S. media company as a majority owner. 

Funding Requirements:

Raising $100K for 4% to launch initial packages and fuel 9-months runway.

Contact: CEO, Paul Mercuri pmercuri@wakeuphere.com for information about the investment opportunity.

B2B Luxury Travel Marketplace

A B2B marketplace purpose-built for the luxury travel sector, combining a SaaS and commission-based model. It serves travel advisors, agencies, and DMCs with an end-to-end platform that simplifies complex trip planning, booking, and fulfilment.

Its purpose-built AI is used in powering itinerary creation, live availability search, intelligent booking, product aggregation, and DMC bidding. These tools reduce manual work, accelerate response times, and improve conversion in an industry where speed and accuracy are critical.

In its first four months of trading, the company has generated over £3 million in pipeline bookings, onboarded more than 1,000 travel agencies, established direct contracts with 80 hotel brands and  villas, aggregated over 20,000 luxury products through global fulfillment and distribution partners.

Funding Requirements:

Raising $4M in exchange for 20% equity to scale its technology capabilities, expand supplier and advisor acquisition, and accelerate growth across key luxury travel markets.

Contact: Matt Zito matt@travelstartups.co to learn more about this investment opportunity.

 Amphibious Seaplane & Air Charter Network

Invest in a groundbreaking venture revolutionising premium, eco-conscious travel in Southeast Asia. Our company is building the region’s first scalable amphibious seaplane and air charter network, providing seamless connections to remote, high-demand waterfront and other domestic destinations.

Why Invest?

• Massive Growth Potential: Targeting a $800M+ annual market opportunity in the rapidly growing tourism sector.

• Proven Concept: Inspired by globally successful models, blending private jet-style luxury with affordability.

• Eco-Innovation: Committed to sustainability, aiming for Asia’s first zero-emission aircraft fleet.

• Strategic Partnerships: Backed by leading luxury hospitality brands and strong government support.

• Experienced Leadership: Managed by a seasoned team of aviation, finance, and hospitality experts, driving innovation and sustainable growth.

• Multi-Use Business Model: Beyond tourism, applications include corporate, medical, and logistics services. Complementary operations to be added in the coming years, providing cost-efficiencies and further value-chain control.

Funding Requirements:

• Raising $5M to accelerate regional expansion, finance aircraft acquisitions and drive marketing initiatives.

This is a unique opportunity to invest in a de-risked, high-margin business poised to transform regional travel while prioritising sustainability.

Contact: Schalk van der Westhuizen, CFO
schalk@seaplaneasia.com

Portfolio of African-focused travel-tech startups

Purple Elephant Ventures Has Raised $4.5M Congratulations!

Leading Africa’s Tourism Industry to a Greener Future. Venture studio based in Nairobi, Kenya, that has developed a process to generate, validate, build, and scale startups to solve the biggest problems in Africa’s tourism industry, a $200B market with little formal competition. Has built 5 start-ups in 18 months; 99% QoQ average revenue growth since inception; Q1 2024 at $700k in revenue. 

Raising $5M USD. Has received a major commitment from a well-known VC. Investments will be received into a UK domiciled holding company, which in turn holds between 40% and 70% equity in each of the start-ups already built. New investment will allow the studio to start between 9 and 12 additional start-ups. 

Contact:  Jan Van der Does de Willebois  jan@purpleelephant.ventures 

https://www.purpleelephant.ventures

Email Matt Zito matt@travelstartups.co for more details about any of the investment opportunities above and or our capital raising services for travel companies. Join our investment and M&A network below.

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