The pandemic has had an enormous impact on the travel industry, closing tourist attractions, hotels, bars and restaurants, and limiting transportation.
Now with restrictions being lifted in many places around the world, the tourism sector is bouncing back.
The past year has been hard for travel startups in the Southeast European region, yet it has also given them the opportunity to grow, develop and learn from the unprecedented situation.
Check out some of the most promising travel startups from Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece.
Travel startups with Southeast European DNA
LockTrip
Year of founding: 2014
Headquarters: Sofia, Bulgaria
Founders: Nikola Alexandrov
What it does: A decentralized, blockchain-based hotel booking and vacation rental marketplace.
Funding round: Corporate round
Total funding amount: $4.1 million
Key investors: Webjet.com.au
Tripis
Year of founding: 2020
Headquarters: Bucharest, Romania
Founders:: Cristian Ghita
What it does: With a matching algorithm, Tripis helps you find the right travel partner and meet members for local experiences. You can also receive and give ratings in the app.
Funding round: Unknown
Total funding amount: Unknown
Key investors: Unknown
Framey
Year of founding: 2019
Headquarters: Bucharest, Romania
Founders: Robert Preoteasa, Alexandru Iulian Florea
What it does: Framey lets travelers transform their dream photos into memorable trips. The mobile app allows users to create fully personalized itineraries starting with just one photo they like.
Funding round: Seed
Total funding amount: $1 million
Key investors: ICE Capital, JECO Capital
SkyRefund
Year of founding: 2017
Headquarters: Sofia, Bulgaria
Founders: Ivaylo Danailov, Kaloyan Todorov, Maria Danailova
What it does: Passenger rights have become one of the most important and commonly violated consumer rights. Recently, flight disruptions have been on the rise. SkyRefund gathers together internationally recognized lawyers, software developers and claims specialists to help air passengers uphold their rights and get up tp 600 euro refunds in case of disruptions.
Funding round: Unknown
Total funding amount: Unknown
Key investors: Unknown
ClaimCompass
Year of founding: 2015
Headquarters: Sofia, Bulgaria
Founders: Velizar Shulev, Tatyana Mitkova, Alexander Sumin
What it does: The startup allows air passengers to receive their up to 700 euro compensation for delayed, canceled, or overbooked flights. In 2020, they acquired the US travel app Service.
Funding round: Seed
Total funding amount: $1.8 million
Key investors: 500 Startups, Good News Ventures, Social Capital
Colibra
Year of founding: 2018
Headquarters: Sofia, Bulgaria
Founders: Miroslav Zaporozhanov, Kalojan Georgiev, Stilyan Zaporozhanov, Ivan Belomorski
What it does: The Colibra app aims to offer instant compensations for cancelled or delayed flights for more than one-hour flights.
Funding round: Seed
Total funding amount: $2 million
Key investors: Eleven Ventures, Asterion
DCS Plus
Year of founding: 2002
Headquarters: Bucharest, Romania
Founders: Cristian Dinca
What it does: DCS Plus design software products that aim to answer the needs of travel agencies and include corporate self-booking tools, an internet booking engine, a tour operator solution for advanced contract management, and development of multiple selling channels.
Funding round: Unknown
Total funding amount: $6.2M
Key investors: Earlybird Venture Capital, Credo Ventures
Ferryhopper
Year of founding: 2016
Headquarters: Athens, Attica, Greece
Founders: Aiden Short, Christos Spatharakis, Panagiotis Sarafis, Vasileios Lahanas
What it does: The online platform allows users to compare and book ferry route tickets. It serves more than 3 million travelers, and offers ferry routes across 400 destinations in 15 countries.. They recently raised a 5 million euro round to improve existing services and continue expansion in Europe.
Funding round: Series B
Total funding amount: $8.9M
Key investors: Piton Capital, Metavallon VC, LAUNCHub Ventures, easyGroup
Questo
Year of founding: 2017
Headquarters: Bucharest, Romania
Founders: Alexandru Govoreanu, Claudiu Petria
What it does: Questo’s mobile platform for game-based city exploration turns cities into playgrounds – tourists can follow clues, unlock new places and solve riddles while learning more about the locations and their history.
Funding round: Seed
Total funding amount: $1.8 million
Key investors: Early Game Ventures, Sparking Capital
Stasher
Year of founding: 2015
Headquarters: London, UK
Founders: Anthony Collias, Jacob Wedderburn-Day, Matthew Majewski
What it does: The solution of the Greek-born startup facilitates the online search and booking of luggage storage. Items stored at a StasherPoint are covered for damage, loss, and theft up to the value of £1K. In March 2022, Stasher acquired short-term luggage storage network Cubby for an undisclosed amount.
Funding round: Unknown
Total funding amount: $5.4 million
Key investors: VentureFriends, Pitch@Palace, Johan Svanstrom
Triparound
Year of founding: 2019
Headquarters: Athens, Greece and Palo Alto, California
Founders: Christos Stergiou, Antonis Chalkiopoulos
What it does: Triparound’s SaaS solution helps travel specialists source customers and suppliers by utilizing data migration, assists travel companies to create pre-packaged and customized itineraries, and automates the booking process.
Funding round: Seed
Total funding amount: $2 million
Key investors: CapitalG partner Laela Sturdy, DFJ partner Andreas Stavropoulos, Tenaya Capital partner Ben Boyer
WelcomePickups
Year of founding: 2016
Headquarters: Athens, Attica, Greece
Founders: Alexandros Trimis, Savvas Georgiou
What it does: The tech platform offers transfer services, essential products, pre-ordered tickets to top attractions, tips and tailor-made experiences led by locals.
Funding round: Series A
Total funding amount: $6.8M
Key investors: Venture Friends
