
One interesting vertical category is “inspiration,” second from the right in Figure 2. We created this for the many travel startups focused not so much on a single traditional vertical, such as flights or hotels, but rather on the broader activity of trip planning, discovery and inspiration. This includes social travel startups, trip organizers, mobile content guides and other services. This category may be the second largest after lodging (nearly 200 companies), but it has one of the lowest per-company funding averages. While a lot of entrepreneurs see opportunity in the inspiration and travel planning phase of travel, investors aren’t buying in.