Skift Take
Beond is selling a "premium luxury" air travel experience, and Minut wants to help short-term rental hosts detect things like cigarette smoke and noisy guests.
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 [email protected] if you have funding news.
Seven travel startups have announced fundraises of more than $305 million over the past week.
Beond, a “premium leisure” airline startup, has raised $13 million in pre-series A funding.
Investors include family offices, angel investors, and strategic partners, the company said.
The startup said it is now looking for investors for a series A round of $25 million. The company completed an oversubscribed seed round of $17 million in August 2023.
Beond is headquartered in Dubai, with its first hub at the Velana International Airport in Malé, Maldives. Beond last month started commercial flights between its hub and airports in Munich, Zurich, and Riyadh.
The startup has one plane, an Airbus A319 aircraft, with 44 seats that lie flat. The airline said its experience includes “fine dining,” with Beond-branded fine china from William Edwards and cutlery from Robert Welch. It also offers a limousine flight transfer service for certain flights.
Beond said in a statement last month that the company’s goal is to have 32 aircraft and 60 destinations within five years. The company next July plans to start flights from its hub to Bangkok and Milan, according to its website.
The funding will go toward the startup’s growth plans, which include hiring and scaling sales and marketing.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/887151825?h=e0cfe3ab07 All the seats on the Beond aircraft can lie completely flat. Air Space Intelligence: $34 Million