$318 million for flying taxis

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

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 curbside pickup at Sky Harbor International Airport. And the startup says its self-driving cars could go on road trips in the future.

Beta Technologies, one of several players developing flying taxis, has raised $318 million. It is the second largest increase in that sector this year, the highest of which $500 million for Joby Aviation last month.

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

Waymo: $5.5 billion

Waymowhich operates an autonomous taxi service in US cities, has raised $5.5 billion in an oversubscribed funding round.

Alphabet (parent company of Google) 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 and use an AI driving system that the startup has been developing since 2009. The company was born as a project of Google before it developed.

The company will serve Austin and Atlanta through a partnership with Uber.

The funds will also support advancements in the Waymo Driver, Waymo’s autonomous driving system designed for a variety of commercial applications.

The company has experimented with more complex trips, such as road trips to cities like 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 now raised more than $1 billion in equity.

The Vermont-based company is developing two electric planes, one that takes off vertically and one that takes off conventionally. It focuses on the commercial and freight industries.

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

The company opened a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility last year, which it says has the capacity to produce up to 300 aircraft per year. Production has started and there are plans to increase production over the next two years.

The company has purchasing contracts 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 an electric aircraft charging system, with plans to deploy the products at airports in the US and internationally.

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

Blacklane: $65 million

Blacklanea driver services app, has raised $65 million (€60 million) in Series G funding.

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

Berlin-based Blacklane offers various types of luxury chauffeur services for consumers and business travelers, bookable via an app, in more than 200 towns all over the world.

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

The funding will go towards the growth of each of the company’s business units, as well as establishing 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 unnamed corporate group based in India.

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

Singapore-based TripFactory supplies the holiday packages to travel agencies, who can then sell them to their customers. Consumers can also book holidays via the TripFactory website.

The funding will go towards business expansion, adding new products and improving current offerings.

Beyond Aero: $20 million

Beyond Aerowhich is developing a hydrogen-electric aircraft 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 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 laboratory to test all components of its system.

Beyond Aero aims to enter the market in 2030.

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

Cruise-bound: $13 million

Cruise-boundan online cruise travel agency, has 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 City-based Cruisebound says it offers more than 27,000 itineraries from 19 major cruise lines. The booking platform offers real-time prices, instant booking, free cabin reservation 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 had “triple-digit annual revenue growth” with a customer base that averages 37 years old, 10 years younger than the industry average.

The financing will go towards strengthening the product offering.

Radical raise: $7 million

Radical storagehas an app for booking luggage storage increased $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 via the Mamacrowd platform.

The Italy-based startup allows travelers to temporarily store their luggage in cafes and supermarkets, for example. 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 aim 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-based startup says its technology makes fuel materials including ethanol, methanol, renewable naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas. Many of the raw materials are byproducts of other companies’ renewable jet fuel development processes, the company said.

The funding will go toward further developing the technology and setting up a laboratory in Texas for pilot production.

Workplaces: $2.6 million

Workplaceswhich handles group bookings for hotel rooms 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.

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

Customers include SeatGeek, RevenueCat and Yieldmo.

The financing will go towards developing the platform and expanding the customer base.

BuzzAR: $1.2 million

BuzzARhas an AI travel guide for travel companies increased $1.2 million from the HSBC New Economy Fund.

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

The startup collaborates with the Saudi Tourism Authority, among others.

The funding will go towards expansion in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

Company	Phase	Pipe	Salary increase
Waymo	Not specified	Alphabet	$5.5 billion
Beta technologies	Series C	QIA	$318 million
Blacklane	Series G	Tasaru Mobility Investments	$65 million
TripFactory	Series A	Not made public	$50 million
Beyond Aero	Series A	Giant Ventures, Bpifrance	$20 million
Cruise-bound	Not specified	Thayer Enterprises	$13 million
Radical storage	Series A	CDP Venture Capital, ALICrowd III	$7 million
Universal fuel technology	Seed	TO VC	$3 million
Workplaces	Pre-sowing	Doing business in oceans	$2.6 million
BuzzAR	Seed	HSBC New Economy fund	$1.2 million