Trip-planning site TravelMuse zooms ahead with $2M

TravelMuse, a web site and widget maker that allows users to make, save and book elaborate travel plans, has raised $2 million of an anticipated $3.9 million in debt and equity funding, according to VentureWire. Based in Los Altos, Calif., the company gained $517,000 of… Continue Reading

TripIt launches iPhone app — puts itineraries at your fingertips

TripIt launches iPhone app — puts itineraries at your fingertips

TripIt, the online service that lets you create and share your travel itineraries, has launched a free application for the iPhone. The app lets users view their meticulously organized travel plans on the go — even in airplane mode — eliminating the need for cumbersome… Continue Reading

Roundup: Brin backs Parkinson’s study, iPhone gets shakable ads, and more

Roundup: Brin backs Parkinson’s study, iPhone gets shakable ads, and more

Google co-founder backs major Parkinson’s study –  Sergey Brin says he plans to contribute money and DNA to a study run by his wife Anne Wojcicki’s startup 23andMe.

Dockers introduces shakable iPhone ad — Users can shake their iPhones to make urban street dancer Dufon perform his moves…. Continue Reading

TravelMuse launches new widget, scores $600K

TravelMuse launches new widget, scores $600K

It’s a good week for trip planning website TravelMuse. It launched its first application, the TravelMuse Plan-It!, which allows users to collect travel information from a range of sites in one centralized location — and then share it with their friends. On top of that,… Continue Reading

Boom for travel sites — Can they make money?

Boom for travel sites — Can they make money?

Travel sites are in fashion this spring, with new sites adding at a steady pace. Finnish travel site TripSay is just the latest to emerge, for example, with ways to share tips about travel. It’s still in closed testing, but it plans to open to… Continue Reading

TripIt raises $5.1M to better organize your travels

TripIt raises $5.1M to better organize your travels

As someone who has been home for one weekend of the past six, I know that traveling can be a real pain. While the Internet has eased some burdens such as scheduling and price hunting, it has also created new ones, such as organizing trip… Continue Reading

Roundup: Pitchfork.tv launches, Google search share hits an all-time high, and more

Roundup: Pitchfork.tv launches, Google search share hits an all-time high, and more

Here’s the latest:

New online video service Pitchfork.tv launches — The well known music blog Pitchfork has launched its foray into online music video realm and has gotten generally positive reviews. ReadWriteWeb thinks it may challenge the just announced MySpace Music (our coverage), while NewTeeVee thinks it… Continue Reading

Kango makes travel search personal and raises $4mm

Kango makes travel search personal and raises $4mm

Kango, a travel search engine that finds lodging and activities that match your personal preferences, is launching a closed testing version and announcing that it raised $4 million from Shasta Ventures earlier this year.

This area is extremely competitive. Companies like Kayak and Sidestep, which search… Continue Reading

Launchpad: G.ho.st, Realius, Cleverset and more

Launchpad: G.ho.st, Realius, Cleverset and more

[Update: The crowd has voted: Cleverset wins best in show. G.ho.st wins most creative idea. Spiceworks mostly likely to exit first.]

Here are the companies presenting at today’s Launchpad event at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco: G.ho.st, Realius, Cleverset, Click Forensics, TripIt and Spiceworks.

The… Continue Reading

New companies, continued: MusicShake, Cake Financial, Ponoko, TripIt standout

New companies, continued: MusicShake, Cake Financial, Ponoko, TripIt standout

Ten more companies presented during today’s afternoon portion of the Techcrunch40 conference. If we were able to have stock in these companies, here’s the order we’d rank them: MusicShake, Cake Financial, Tripit, Ponoko, Everywhere, CrowdSpirit, DocStoc, Flock, StoryBlender and TeachThePeople. Summaries of each company follow.

MusicShake,… Continue Reading

TripIt, another travel start-up, raises $1M

TripIt, a San Francisco online travel startup that plans to launch this summer, has raised $1 million in a first round funding from O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. One of the company’s executives is Hotwire co-founder Gregg Brockway. Bryce Roberts, of OATV tells VentureBeat he invested because… Continue Reading