At Phocuswright Europe 2026, a panel of travel investors and founders drew a sharp line through today's funding market: on one side, AI-focused companies still commanding capital and driving M&A; on the other, everything else, fighting for a shrinking pool. Amid that divide, PhocusWire singled out Thayer portfolio company Nuitée as one of the few travel startups still raising with real conviction.

Roger Sharp, chair of Web Travel Group and North Ridge Partners, put the M&A dynamic bluntly: "all of the money" moving through the market right now is flowing toward AI-focused companies. But panelists were equally clear that the "AI-native" label alone is no longer a moat. Callum McPherson, founder and CEO of Obvlo, drew a distinction we have been making with our own founders for the better part of two years:

“We use AI to build things, which we use to deliver those outcomes to the customer. If you could build AI into your own systems, workflows, your customers' workflows, you look less like a product company, possibly, and that in itself is a moat.”

— Callum McPherson, Founder & CEO, Obvlo

Nuitée, the hotel distribution API platform we backed in its $48 million Series A led by Accel, was called out on the panel as an "outlier" — a company still closing capital and expanding partnerships even as the broader travel funding environment tightens. Leyla Allahverdiyeva, Nuitée's SVP of Sales and Partnerships, pointed to the company's growing relationships with Revolut and Grab as evidence of that trajectory:

“Our partnerships have really grown, so in terms of that trajectory, it's looking very positive on our side.”

— Leyla Allahverdiyeva, SVP Sales & Partnerships, Nuitée

Sharp's closing framing is the one we would underline for every founder we back: "If you are early stage and adding significant value, meeting a need that someone has, you'll raise money. You're growing fast, your economics work, somebody needs you, you'll raise money." That is, and has always been, the filter we apply — irrespective of whatever label happens to be in favor at a given moment.

The travel funding market in 2026 is not short on capital; it is short on patience for undifferentiated software wearing an AI label. Nuitée's continued momentum — real infrastructure, real distribution partners, and a product deeply embedded in how hotels and travel platforms actually connect — is exactly the kind of durability we look for before we invest, and exactly what continues to compound after we do.