Travel startup funding remained tough throughout 2025, with Phocuswright data signaling the year would likely fall below $5 billion after a modest recovery to $5.8 billion in 2024. A few headline rounds stood out, including Perk’s $200 million Series E, Klook’s $100 million and later raises from companies like Ramp, Airalo and Peek, but big checks were otherwise scarce and investors consistently urged founders to extend runway and manage cash as if the next round might not arrive.

In this interview with Linda Fox in the PhocusWire Studio, investors Roopak Pati of Oppenheimer and Betsy Mulé of F-Prime Capital unpack what the funding slowdown means for travel startups and why they still see reasons for optimism. They discuss how AI is accelerating efficiency and adoption across the industry, while also complicating the path for some B2C travel companies as AI platforms increasingly showcase travel booking use cases.

The conversation also explores what’s next, from renewed IPO momentum to the likelihood of stronger M&A activity in 2026. Along the way, Pati and Mulé share what they’re watching, including tech-forward players in corporate travel, and why investors are placing more, smaller bets as winning business models become harder to predict.

Travel startup funding remained tough throughout 2025, with Phocuswright data signaling the year would likely fall below $5 billion after a modest recovery to $5.8 billion in 2024. A few headline rounds stood out, including Perk&rsquo;s $200 million Series E, Klook&rsquo;s $100 million and later raises from companies like Ramp, Airalo and Peek, but big checks were otherwise scarce and investors consistently urged founders to extend runway and manage cash as if the next round might not arrive.
In this interview with Linda Fox in the PhocusWire Studio, investors Roopak Pati of Oppenheimer and Betsy Mul&eacute; of F-Prime Capital unpack what the funding slowdown means for travel startups and why they still see reasons for optimism. They discuss how AI is accelerating efficiency and adoption across the industry, while also complicating the path for some B2C travel companies as AI platforms increasingly showcase travel booking use cases.
The conversation also explores what&rsquo;s next, from renewed IPO momentum to the likelihood of stronger M&amp;A activity in 2026. Along the way, Pati and Mul&eacute; share what they&rsquo;re watching, including tech-forward players in corporate travel, and why investors are placing more, smaller bets as winning business models become harder to predict.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus is a regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus

In this podcast, investors Roopak Pati (Oppenheimer) and Betsy Mulé (F-Prime Capital) unpack what the funding slowdown means for travel startups and why they still see reasons for optimism. They discuss how AI is accelerating efficiency and adoption across the industry, while also complicating the path for some B2C travel companies as AI platforms increasingly showcase travel booking use cases.