Orlando-based travel tech startup CuddlyNest raises US$6 million in new funding amidst pandemic carnage

While the travel industry had suffered extensive furloughs and layoffs, this travel tech startup is not only thriving but also maintaining its workforce and continuing to expand with new hiring. CuddlyNest is an Orlando-based travel tech startup that offers accommodations at millions of properties all around the world.

CuddylyNest continues to do well largely thanks to its diversified accommodation network that ensures local bookings, thus maintaining a healthy operating performance due to “lockdown fever.” Through its platform, travelers can browse 1.2 million properties in over 190 countries to book the best deals on hotels, vacation apartments, condos, beach houses, and home rentals.

Just recently, CuddlyNest announced that it has raised US$6 million in new funding from its existing private investors. The funding comes at a time when COVID-19 uncertainty had threatened the travel industry. Since its inception in early 2017, the travel tech startup has raised over US$10.5 million.

As a one-stop travel booking platform, CuddlyNest offers all accommodation types, including hotels, hostels, vacation homes, penthouses, and even RVs, heralding their slogan “Travel is for Everyone.” CuddlyNest offers the lowest aggregate commission fee on the global Online Travel Agency (OTA) market, setting out to revolutionize the booking system by cutting unnecessary travel fees using its booking fee-sharing model.

“Continuous capital injection into the industry — whether to CuddlyNest or other startups in travel tech — is the clearest indication that investors and stakeholders are optimistic in their forecasting of what is to come, ” said Ritesh Raj, CuddlyNest’s Co-Partner and COO.

The funding will be partially used to expand its global workforce across 2021 and to further strengthen the agility of its team who will continuously be evaluating scaling priorities based on fast-paced market developments paired with exhaustive market research into shifting traveler patterns.

After having launched the #PlanNowStayLater campaign in April 2020 in response to the worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns, CuddlyNest witnessed an increase in local travel booking volume affirming a strong interest in the staycation until all national borders are open for global tourism.