What's behind Hopper's $22 million gamble on big data travel planning?
Skift Take
Hopper is doing heavy lifting in amassing data to spur travel inspiration. Five years in the making already, it needs to deliver out of the gate, or become an expensive road kill.
Hopper CEO Frederic Lalonde says "planning a trip can be tedious and frustrating," and takes a long time, and the same can undoubtedly be said about Hopper, which was founded in 2007 and is still in private beta.
But news that Hopper picked up $12 million in funding in a round led by OMERS Ventures and plans to launch "later this year" could bring things into the daylight.
Hopper's total funding to date is $22 million. Brightspark Ventures and Atlas Venture also participated in the latest round.
Hopper states it intends to "bring inspiration back to travel pl
