Plug and Play Tech Center

Plug and Play Tech Center, established in 2006, is a global innovation platform that connects startups, investors, and corporations. Based in Sunnyvale, California, with operations in 22 locations worldwide, the company runs 12 industry-specific accelerator programs twice a year, fostering collaboration between major corporations and high-quality startups. These programs span sectors such as Fintech, Insurtech, IoT, Brand & Retail, Mobility, and Health & Wellness, among others. Plug and Play invests in seed, angel, and Series A rounds, with a focus on great teams leading emerging growth companies. Since inception, their startup community has raised over $9 billion in venture funding, with notable success stories including Dropbox, PayPal, and LendingClub.

Neda Amidi

President

Amir Amidi

Managing Partner of Travel and Hospitality Center of Innovation

Saeed Amidi

CEO

Davis Auksmuksts

Principal, Ventures and Director, Fintech

Thomas Bigagli

Partner

Wade Bitaraf

Founder, Energy and Sustainability

Kieran Borrett

Director, United Kingdom

Kristi Choi

Operating Partner

Matthew Claxton

Partner and Global Director of Sustainability

Alex Cobos

Director, Mexico

Dana Diefendorf

Investor

Tarek Elessawi

Principal

Garnett Ge

Ventures Associate, Cross Border

Eugenio Gonzalez JD

Partner

Omer Gozen Ph.D

Partner

Gemma Guilera

Senior Partner Success Manager

Aziz El Hachem

North Africa Director

Karima El Hakim

Country Director - Egypt

Jackie Hernandez

Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships and Founding Member

Andrea Sanchez

Director

Salim Laouiti

Fintech Associate

Tanya Ma

Ventures Associate, Brand and Retail

Alireza Masrour

General Partner

Javier Megias

Managing Partner, EMEA VC Fund

Omeed Mehrinfar

Managing Partner, Middle-East

Kevin Parakkattu

Partner

Blanca Ribas Pombo

Investor

Julianne Roseman

Principal - Digital Health Ventures

Alex Roudi

Managing Partner, San Diego

Michelle Shi

Senior Venture Associate

Noorjit Sidhu

Ventures Associate

Kohei Suzuki

Associate

Erena Estellés Tatay

Ventures Analyst

Alexander Tran

Partner

Philippe Vincent

Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Co-CEO

Carolin Wais

Partner

Kevin Withstandley

Senior Director, Partner Success

Claire Xiong

Director

Vanessa Yang

Investor, Plug and Play Investment

Ivan Zgomba

Partner, Ventures

Chen Zhao

Managing Partner, China and Senior Technology Analyst

Lindsay Lebahn

Senior Program Manager and Director

Past deals in Tourism

10Adventures

Pre Seed Round in 2024
10Adventures operates an online platform that caters to the needs of adventure tourism, offering a unique booking engine for private active vacations at competitive prices compared to traditional group tours. The company collaborates with local tour suppliers across 85 countries, facilitating a connection with travelers in 30 nations, primarily in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Its customer base includes both tour suppliers, who seek to expand their business but face challenges in direct marketing, and travelers aged 45 to 75, who prioritize health, meaningful experiences, and active exploration. The platform enhances the user experience by providing access to adventure events, free tour guides, travel gear reviews, trip reports, and activity difficulty assessments, helping customers discover hiking trails and various adventure tours.

Winalist

Seed Round in 2023
Winalist SAS, established in 2017 and based in Ay, France, specializes in facilitating wine tourism. Through its online platform, the company curates and offers a range of wine-related experiences, including winery tours, cellar visits, tastings, and museum visits. Winalist takes bookings and manages these experiences, providing users with a selection of carefully chosen wineries and distilleries across Europe, along with relevant information to compare options and customize itineraries. Additionally, the company offers travel blogs to enhance users' wine and spirit adventures.

Sherpa°

Series A in 2023
We're sherpa° and we’re passionate about freedom of movement. Our mission is to help travellers move freely around the world and to shift the way the world's leading travel providers approach border crossing. Through unmatched industry knowledge and expertise, we help our partners—from airlines to cruise lines to online travel agencies—open new ancillary revenue streams to help them reduce costs and operational risk while enhancing the customer journey and growing consumer confidence in travel. More than simply providing a product or service, we're moving travel forward. Away from stress and confusion, and towards ease and connection. So travellers can move freely wherever life takes them. This is the future of international travel.

Tripbtoz

Secondary Market in 2023
Tripbtoz, Inc. operates an online hotel booking platform that also functions as a social travel agency. Founded in 2015 and based in Seoul, South Korea, the company allows travelers to engage with their experiences through video, sharing and discovering different types of travel in real time. Users can search for hotels worldwide, book flights, rent cars, and access personalized recommendations for vacation packages. Additionally, the platform incentivizes participation by offering trip cash for engaging in activities that enhance the travel experience. Tripbtoz continuously evolves by incorporating feedback and preferences from its community of travelers.

Cruisebound

Series A in 2023
Cruisebound is a travel agency focused on making cruising accessible to a wider audience by streamlining the booking process. The company provides a platform that offers a variety of cruise options, detailed information, and booking services. To enhance the customer experience, Cruisebound also offers human support through phone and live chat, ensuring that clients can easily navigate their cruise planning.

ViaVii

Seed Round in 2023
ViaVii operates an online travel marketplace that focuses on delivering tailored itineraries and authentic local experiences for travelers. Its platform enables users to easily discover and book a wide range of immersive activities designed by trained local communities. By offering hyper-personalized travel options, ViaVii allows travelers to create and adjust their itineraries on-the-go, fostering a more engaging and memorable travel experience. As the travel industry adapts to new norms post-COVID-19, ViaVii aims to cater to evolving traveler expectations by providing a platform where users can take control of their travel plans. Additionally, ViaVii offers B2B products that include a software-as-a-service model and a conversational engine, empowering businesses to better connect with their customers and identify opportunities for engagement.

Sastaticket.pk

Seed Round in 2022
Sastaticket.pk is an online travel agency based in Karachi, Pakistan, designed to empower travelers with instant booking capabilities and a diverse selection of travel products. The platform offers a comprehensive range of services, including reservations for domestic and international flights, hotel accommodations, and holiday packages. By leveraging advanced technology, Sastaticket.pk aims to provide a seamless and efficient booking experience for users. The agency is committed to delivering high-quality customer service, supported by a dedicated team available 24/7 and offices in three cities across Pakistan. This focus on convenience and accessibility positions Sastaticket.pk as a leading consolidator of travel services in the region.

Cruisebound

Convertible Note in 2021
Cruisebound is a travel agency focused on making cruising accessible to a wider audience by streamlining the booking process. The company provides a platform that offers a variety of cruise options, detailed information, and booking services. To enhance the customer experience, Cruisebound also offers human support through phone and live chat, ensuring that clients can easily navigate their cruise planning.

Wheel the World

Seed Round in 2021
Wheel the World Inc. is a travel service provider focused on creating accessible travel experiences for individuals with disabilities, their friends, and families. Founded in 2017 and based in Berkeley, California, the company operates an online platform that offers a range of services, including destination information, tour packages, activities, and accommodations. By utilizing a crowdsourced Accessibility Mapping System, Wheel the World collects extensive data about travel operators worldwide, providing over 250 data points per listing to ensure users have the necessary accessibility information when making booking decisions. The company aims to empower millions of people with disabilities to explore the world with confidence while promoting inclusive tourism in a significantly underserved market.

Sherpa°

Venture Round in 2021
We're sherpa° and we’re passionate about freedom of movement. Our mission is to help travellers move freely around the world and to shift the way the world's leading travel providers approach border crossing. Through unmatched industry knowledge and expertise, we help our partners—from airlines to cruise lines to online travel agencies—open new ancillary revenue streams to help them reduce costs and operational risk while enhancing the customer journey and growing consumer confidence in travel. More than simply providing a product or service, we're moving travel forward. Away from stress and confusion, and towards ease and connection. So travellers can move freely wherever life takes them. This is the future of international travel.

Wheel the World

Seed Round in 2020
Wheel the World Inc. is a travel service provider focused on creating accessible travel experiences for individuals with disabilities, their friends, and families. Founded in 2017 and based in Berkeley, California, the company operates an online platform that offers a range of services, including destination information, tour packages, activities, and accommodations. By utilizing a crowdsourced Accessibility Mapping System, Wheel the World collects extensive data about travel operators worldwide, providing over 250 data points per listing to ensure users have the necessary accessibility information when making booking decisions. The company aims to empower millions of people with disabilities to explore the world with confidence while promoting inclusive tourism in a significantly underserved market.

Wheel the World

Seed Round in 2020
Wheel the World Inc. is a travel service provider focused on creating accessible travel experiences for individuals with disabilities, their friends, and families. Founded in 2017 and based in Berkeley, California, the company operates an online platform that offers a range of services, including destination information, tour packages, activities, and accommodations. By utilizing a crowdsourced Accessibility Mapping System, Wheel the World collects extensive data about travel operators worldwide, providing over 250 data points per listing to ensure users have the necessary accessibility information when making booking decisions. The company aims to empower millions of people with disabilities to explore the world with confidence while promoting inclusive tourism in a significantly underserved market.

Travelstride

Seed Round in 2018
Travelstride, incorporated in 2014 and based in San Francisco, California, operates a comprehensive reviews marketplace that connects travelers with a variety of pre-planned travel experiences, including guided tours, adventure travel packages, and small ship and river cruises. The platform allows users to search for trips by destination, activity type, and travel company, facilitating the discovery of suitable travel options. With over 50,000 professionally planned trips available worldwide, Travelstride caters to diverse preferences and budgets, offering itineraries crafted by more than 1,500 local experts and global companies. The company aims to enhance travel experiences by fostering a community that encourages exploration and connection through well-planned journeys. Travelstride has influenced over three million travelers, supported by a team with extensive backgrounds in the travel and tech industries, and has received recognition as a leading resource for tours and travel technology innovation.

Utrip

Series A in 2017
Utrip is a free travel planning technology that brings together the best in artificial intelligence and human experience, making it easy for travelers to quickly create their perfect trip. It is a destination discovery and travel planning platform that brings together the best in artificial intelligence and human experience to help travelers discover destinations and plan trips in uniquely personal and enjoyable ways. Utrip PRO helps increase engagement, loyalty and conversion rates by providing a white labeled offering of the Utrip platform to hospitality brands, cruise lines, points of interest, airlines, and Destination Marketing Organizations.

Softmogul

Seed Round in 2017
Softmogul is a technology company focused on creating innovative solutions to enhance hotel operations. The company offers a comprehensive mobile platform that integrates various management tools, including a Property Management System (PMS), Channel Manager, Booking Engine, Housekeeping management, Point of Sale (POS) system, and Event Manager. This all-in-one platform allows hotel operators to streamline their processes, manage guest documents, and improve service delivery. Features include a dashboard for tracking hotel performance and guest demographics, as well as functionalities for scanning identification, setting reminders for room service, facilitating online bookings, and handling cashless payments. Softmogul's solutions aim to simplify hotel management and enhance the overall guest experience.

Easy Stay Technologies

Seed Round in 2016
Easy Stay Technologies, headquartered in Malaga, Spain, specializes in developing a hotel booking application. Their platform aims to enhance both guest satisfaction and hotel productivity. It offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface for guests to access and book various hotel services, while also providing hotels with valuable data analysis on customer habits and preferences. This data enables hotels to implement proactive marketing strategies, improve management, and ultimately increase revenues.

Essentialist

Seed Round in 2016
Essentialist is a members-only bespoke travel service that specializes in creating customized itineraries for global destinations. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, the company offers a membership-based platform that provides access to a concierge-style travel planner. This service includes curated itineraries and reviews of popular destinations, tailored to the individual passions and preferences of each member. Essentialist aims to connect travelers with the unique people and places that define each location, enhancing their travel experiences and helping them discover the essence of their chosen destinations.

Get a camp

Seed Round in 2016
Get a Camp is a booking platform that specializes in campsite holidays, allowing clients to discover and reserve a variety of scenic campsites. The platform provides users with the ability to check the availability of different campsites and make online bookings, streamlining the process of planning outdoor getaways. By focusing on the beauty and appeal of various camping locations, Get a Camp aims to enhance the camping experience for outdoor enthusiasts seeking memorable stays in nature.

Hapz

Venture Round in 2016
Hapz is an experience booking platform based in Singapore that consolidates information on various arts and entertainment events, including concerts, festivals, sports matches, and tourist attractions. Launched in 2016, the platform allows users to discover and book a wide range of experiences tailored to their preferences at competitive prices. In addition to serving consumers, Hapz offers event organizers valuable real-time insights into demographics, pricing trends, and competitor performance, facilitating targeted marketing strategies. The platform also features a unique bidding option, enabling users to name their prices for tickets. Furthermore, Hapz rewards users for their bookings, enhancing the overall experience.

Adventure Bucket List

Seed Round in 2014
Adventure Bucket List is a company based in Sunnyvale, California, that specializes in providing a unified reservation management and sales distribution platform tailored for the tourism and travel industry. Its enterprise software enables activity providers to effectively share their offerings, synchronize calendars, and manage client interactions. The platform enhances revenue potential by allowing partners to sell tours and activities, gain insights into customer preferences, and track purchasing metrics. Additionally, it supports seamless online bookings, making it accessible for travelers to reserve experiences from any device at any time. By monetizing traditional tourism listing websites, Adventure Bucket List empowers local businesses and drives increased visitor spending in tourism destinations.

TravelTipz.ru

Series B in 2013
TravelTipz is a prominent social travel platform based in Moscow, Russia, that facilitates travel planning and sharing among users. Launched in April 2011, it has grown to become the largest site of its kind in Russia, surpassing both local and global competitors. The platform features over 650,000 user-generated reviews, with a significant portion contributed by "social" users, enhancing the relevance and reliability of the content. TravelTipz enables individuals to connect with friends to collaboratively plan and book their travels, leveraging social data to streamline the decision-making process. The company has garnered support from both Russian and international venture capitalists and angel investors, further solidifying its position in the travel industry.

Meetmeals

Seed Round in 2013
Meetmeals, S.L., headquartered in Santa Bárbara, Spain, operates an online platform that facilitates social gastronomic gatherings. The company connects food enthusiasts and cooking aficionados, allowing them to come together to share their love for culinary experiences. Users can organize events where they can cook and enjoy diverse dishes with others, promoting cultural exchange through food. This platform enables participants to explore new flavors and connect with people from various backgrounds, enriching their gastronomic journeys. By fostering these social interactions centered around cooking and dining, Meetmeals enhances the communal experience of food appreciation.

TravelTipz.ru

Convertible Note in 2012
TravelTipz is a prominent social travel platform based in Moscow, Russia, that facilitates travel planning and sharing among users. Launched in April 2011, it has grown to become the largest site of its kind in Russia, surpassing both local and global competitors. The platform features over 650,000 user-generated reviews, with a significant portion contributed by "social" users, enhancing the relevance and reliability of the content. TravelTipz enables individuals to connect with friends to collaboratively plan and book their travels, leveraging social data to streamline the decision-making process. The company has garnered support from both Russian and international venture capitalists and angel investors, further solidifying its position in the travel industry.

TravelTipz.ru

Seed Round in 2010
TravelTipz is a prominent social travel platform based in Moscow, Russia, that facilitates travel planning and sharing among users. Launched in April 2011, it has grown to become the largest site of its kind in Russia, surpassing both local and global competitors. The platform features over 650,000 user-generated reviews, with a significant portion contributed by "social" users, enhancing the relevance and reliability of the content. TravelTipz enables individuals to connect with friends to collaboratively plan and book their travels, leveraging social data to streamline the decision-making process. The company has garnered support from both Russian and international venture capitalists and angel investors, further solidifying its position in the travel industry.
Spot something off? Help us improve by flagging any incorrect or outdated information. Just email us at support@teaserclub.com. Your feedback is most welcome.