6 Travel Startups Raise $168 Million Over 2 Weeks: Funding Roundup 

Travel Startup Funding This Week

Each week we round up travel startups that have recently received or announced funding. Please email Travel Tech Reporter Justin Dawes at jd@skift.com if you have funding news.

Mid-range deals are harder to secure than ever — that’s been the sentiment around startup funding lately, and it rings true in the list below. 

Large funding rounds are more prominent, and seed funding is still fairly easy to secure. But mid-sized deals — like those between $10 million and $50 million — have been less frequent in the last couple of years. 

Another trend: Virtually all of the small deals are for business-to-business startups making products that use generative AI. The basis of that tech is still young, but there’s clearly interest in where it’s headed. 

Over the last two weeks, six tech companies involved in the travel industry raised over $168 million. 

Aescape, which is selling AI-powered robotic massage arms to hotels, has raised $83 million. 

Valor Equity Partners, an early investor in Tesla and SpaceX, led the round. Other investors included Alumni Ventures and NBA Champion and All-Star Kevin Love.

The company has now raised $128 million. 

Aescape, based in New York City, worked for sev