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In order to help you cope with the summer heat, here are some refreshing travel industry insights, innovation news and a few cool opportunities:
- Eurostar rolls out ‘SmartCheck’, a facial biometric check-in system providing Contactless solution at London St Pancras International. This will potentially make pre-board queuing a thing of the past. The underlying technology has been developed by the UK-based tech company iProov. SmartChek will enable Eurostar passengers to complete ID verification and UK exit checks on their mobile devices from the comfort of their own homes, and then expedite pre-boarding processes at the station by entering via a dedicated facial biometric corridor.
- Europe’s biggest startup hubs: Since 2011, our colleagues at EU-Startups are publishing a renowned ranking of Europe’s most active startup cities. After many days of in-depth research focused on startup and funding activities across Europe, they just published their updated TOP 30 ranking of Europe’s biggest startup hubs in 2023!
- Air taxi company Lilium avoids delisting with a $192 million in fresh funding. The investment in the German company, which listed on the Nasdaq in 2021 via a merger with Qell Acquisition Corp, has come via the sale of shares publicly reaping $42 million, $75 million from venture capital and $75 million from Tencent affiliate Aceville.
- Tripadvisor is integrating OpenAI technology into its Trips travel-planning product. Now in public beta testing, Trips is using the generative AI technology to create personalized travel itineraries. Tripadvisor said its itinerary generator leans on the more than 1 billion reviews on its site, leveraging the insights of travelers when making recommendations.
- Travel tickets reselling platform Fairyline, has raised just $3 million in seed funding. The France-based startup, which is integrated into the tech platforms of client travel companies, allows consumers to resell otherwise non-refundable tickets. While operators in industries like sports and entertainment have been able to offer resale services, travel companies have struggled with this so far because of a lack of technology.