TNMT Newsletter #188: Lufthansa meets Deutsche Bahn

Hi there,

If you’ve ever named a product or company, you’ll know: finding the right name (and a matching domain) is a small miracle.

When we launched this newsletter over seven years ago, we started out as travelandmobility.tech.

Not exactly punchy.

So when the opportunity came up to buy TNMT.com, we jumped on it.

(Kudos to our former MD, Gleb, for locking it in. Four-letter domains with a logical fit don’t come around often, or cheap.)

That said… many new readers often ask what TNMT stands for.

Some say TMNT (yep, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

Others just forget altogether.

We get it. It’s not the perfect name.

But we’re not changing it. And we’re damn proud of it.

Because behind those four letters sits a concept we believe in: Travel and Mobility Tech.

• For decades, “travel” and “mobility” were treated as two separate industries.
• But the digital age and a user-centric view of the traveler journey have made both sectors closely intertwined.

A simple example:

• Airlines used to think their job started at boarding and ended at arrival.
• But travelers need more: getting to and from the airport (aka mobility), places to stay, things to do, and digital help along the way.

TNMT is our way of rethinking the industry around the full journey.

And it’s also a call for deeper collaboration across sectors, systems, and stakeholders.

Which brings us to today’s announcement:

A new startup competition hosted by our parent company, Lufthansa Group , and, wait for it, Deutsche Bahn (Germany’s national railway provider).

It’s a rare cross-industry call for innovation, inviting startups in automation, robotics, or machine learning to co-create real-world solutions, especially around maintenance, inspection, and operational process improvement.

Are you working on something relevant?

Learn more and apply here.

With that said, let’s dive into this week’s TNMT research piece, also rooted in collaboration, but this time between airlines and airports. 

Scroll down to explore.

Your Lufthansa Innovation Hub Team

Research

Why are travelers suddenly happier at airports?

Today’s research deep dive is built around a data point we didn’t really see coming: 

Airport satisfaction is quietly hitting record highs.

• According to a 2025 report by Airport Dimensions , 79% of global travelers now report being satisfied with their airport experience.
• This is up sharply from just 60% in 2019, before the pandemic disrupted global travel.

This trend took us by surprise. 

At least a little bit.

Not because we didn’t think airports could ever change, but because the shift is happening faster and more visibly than we expected.

Back in 2019, we published a rather bearish take on airport innovation. 

At the time, we identified four structural blockers that kept startups (and real innovation) out of airport environments:

• A highly consolidated airport oligopoly with little competitive pressure.
• Complex, slow-moving procurement processes.
• Risk-averse operators favoring big tech incumbents.
• And regulatory red tape that made experimentation nearly impossible.

The airport ecosystem was closed, sluggish, and disincentivized to try (almost) anything new.

We ended that piece with cautious optimism: if startups could find the right entry points, like profit-sharing, critical-mass incubation programs, or positioning the airport as just one of many distribution channels, things might eventually change.

Fast forward to today, and change is clearly underway (see chart above).

So we decided to investigate:

• What’s behind this post-pandemic turnaround in passenger satisfaction?
• Where have airports focused their innovation efforts?
• And most importantly: what can the rest of the industry, especially airline innovation managers, learn from all this?

What we found: this isn’t just about isolated upgrades.

It’s a mindset shift. 

And one that’s starting to show real commercial returns.

Let us explain.

Single airport innovations add up

The rise in passenger satisfaction isn’t a coincidence.

It reflects a clear uptick in innovation momentum inside airport environments.

Around the world, we’re seeing more and more experiments being rolled out – not in test labs, but in real terminals, for real travelers.

Three examples: 

• At Changi Airport Group , travelers can now clear immigration without ever pulling out their passport, thanks to fully automated biometric ID checks. The process is faster, smoother, and less stressful.
• In Hong Kong Airport, some duty-free stores now let travelers skip checkout entirely. Scan your boarding pass, grab what you need, and walk out. The receipt lands in your email inbox.
• And in Munich Airport , autonomous Ottonomy robots now assist travelers at baggage claim, offering directions and guiding them to their next stop.

Airport innovations like these have been increasingly showing up in media headlines.

So what’s sparked this new momentum?

COVID-19 cracked the system open

In hindsight, we can tell: the pandemic turned out to be a forcing function.

Practically overnight, airports had to rethink their operations.

What used to be long-term “digital transformation” roadmaps suddenly became urgent priorities.

• Touchless check-in via mobile apps or kiosks, minimizing human interaction.
• Digital queue management, like notifications and virtual queue monitoring, to help travelers avoid crowded lines.
• Biometric screening and facial recognition to replace face-to-face passport and boarding pass checks.
• Contactless payments, including tap-to-pay for parking and food courts.
• Self-service bag drops reduce face-to-face contact while speeding up check-in.
• Automated cleaning robots are a visible hygiene upgrade that also boosts traveler confidence.

All of it moved from nice-to-have to must-have (within weeks).

Airport boards, traditionally risk-averse and slow to change, found themselves with no real choice.

Crisis forced airports to do what we (and many analysts) had long advised: modernize.

And this shift didn’t go unnoticed.

• Startups, many of which had long been locked out of the airport environment, spotted the opportunity.
• Just as we predicted back in 2019, they began re-entering the picture with business models better aligned to airport realities.

Some leaned into profit-sharing models to get their foot in the door. 

Others piggybacked on broader digitization waves, like biometric identity or autonomous robots.

The result?

A real mindset shift – one that quickly turned into structural change in how airports think about and fund innovation.

To support this argument, here are three clear signals that this shift is here to stay.

Signal #1: Innovation is now someone’s actual job

The strongest indicator that airport innovation is here to stay?

• Airports have started building dedicated innovation teams, with clear budgets, mandates, and leadership backing.
• And this shift is bigger than just one or two standout examples.

We’ve identified 30+ formal airport innovation units across the globe. 

What’s striking: 

• Close to 90% of them were founded in the past five years
• This points to a post-pandemic pivot where innovation became less of a buzzword and more of an organizational priority.

These units range from corporate venture arms and startup accelerators to full-blown innovation labs embedded within the airport operator itself.

Think Aeroporti di Roma 's Innovation Hub in Rome, Munich Airport ’s Lab Campus, Zurich Airport Ltd ’s Innovation Hub, or Aena's startup accelerator Aena.

Signal #2: Airports are outspending airlines on tech

Another clear sign that airport innovation is no longer just talk?

They’re putting their money where their mouth is.

Since the pandemic, airports have significantly ramped up their tech budgets, quietly outpacing even their airline peers.

• Back in 2019, airports spent less than 5% of their revenue on technology. 
• Fast-forward to 2024, and that figure has risen to nearly 6%.
• By contrast, airline IT spending has actually gone the other way: dropping from roughly 5% of revenue in 2019 to under 4% today.

In other words, airports now spend 1.5x more on IT than airlines, which is a notable reversal of the historic dynamic where airlines led the charge on digitization efforts.

This budget shift may sound subtle, but it’s massive when you consider the total revenue volumes involved.

Signal #3: VC confidence in airport tech is holding strong

Our final signal doesn’t come from inside the terminal, but from the wider innovation ecosystem.

While overall startup funding in Travel and Mobility Tech has nosedived in recent years, investor appetite for airport-focused innovation has remained remarkably resilient.

• Since the 2018 peak, the number of VC deals across the broader Travel & Mobility Tech market has fallen by almost 50%.
• But deals targeting airport-specific startups? Mostly stable up until 2022, and then only down ~20% until 2024.

In the middle of a global VC winter, that’s a strong vote of confidence.

It shows that external investors have picked up on what we’ve been tracking internally:

Airports are finally enabling the conditions startups need to succeed.

• Longer runways for testing.
• Faster procurement cycles.
• More openness to startup partnerships.

And crucially: real budget behind the buzz (see Signal #2).

Here are 9 startups that caught our eye recently:

In short, the ecosystem around airports is catching up to the moment. 

And it’s helping fuel a more innovation-ready future across the terminal.

Why airline collaboration is the next big airport innovation unlock

With all these promising airport innovation signs in front of us, we can only point in one direction:

Now is the time for airlines and airports to collaborate more closely than ever.

The current airport innovation momentum offers a rare window of opportunity.

For once, airports aren’t just open to new ideas; they’re actively funding, testing, and scaling them.

But here’s the catch: A better passenger experience can’t be delivered in silos.

• Airlines and airports touch nearly every part of a traveler’s journey, yet they often operate in parallel, not in sync.
• That fragmentation is holding back the full potential of seamless, end-to-end experiences.

It’s also bad for business.

Because when passengers are frustrated, they spend less.

But when they’re happy? 

They open their wallets.

• According to JD Power’s 2023 North American Airport Satisfaction study, delighted travelers spend nearly 50% more at airports than stressed-out or disappointed ones.
• This uplift affects everyone’s bottom line, from airport retailers to airlines offering seat upgrades, meals, or priority boarding at the gate.

So, how can airlines and airports best cooperate and ride this wave together?

We break it down in our full article on TNMT.com.

Full Article

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Deal Tracker 

Most Recent Investment Deals

– VC –

Bilt Rewards - the US-based platform turning rent payments into travel rewards raised $250M in later-stage funding led by General Catalyst and GID Investment Advisers, with participation from United Wholesale Mortgage. 

XPENG AEROHT - the China-based developer of hybrid flying cars for roads and air, raised $250M in Series B funding. The funds will be used to advance R&D, accelerate production, and support the commercialization of its modular flying car product, with initial deliveries expected in 2026.

aiOla - the Israeli developer of conversational and voice AI technology that turns natural speech into structured data, has raised $25M in Series A funding from multiple investors, including United Airlines Ventures, paving the way for potential collaboration between the airline and the startup.

Travel Curious - the UK-based travel and tour company helping hotels integrate experiences into their existing customer journey raised $20.72M in early-stage funding.

Folio - the US-based financial operations platform for hospitality working with hotels like Hilton and Sheraton, raised $14M in Series A funding led by Construct Capital and Thrive Capital, with participation from other investors. The funds will be used to power profitability at hotels and deliver faster implementations.

Evitado Technologies - the German ground operations automation service provider for airports and airlines like British Airways raised approximately over $3M in seed funding led by Morado Ventures, LLC and elev8.vc, with participation from Assembly Ventures and IAGi Ventures.

Grexa AI - the Indian marketing solution provider for tour and travel agencies and other industries raised $1.8M in seed funding led by Utsav Somani, with participation from other investors. The funds will be used to support product development and market expansion.

Weebora - the Milan-based international marketplace for padel travel experiences, raised $1.52M in pre-seed funding. The funds will be used to support growth, strengthen its position as a global point of reference for padel travel experiences, and expand into new sports verticals.

Inntelo AI - the UK-based AI guest communication platform for hotels, raised $690K in pre-seed funding led by British Business Bank and Haatch, with participation from Look AI Ventures. The funds will be used to accelerate its commercial growth and expand sales and marketing.

TRIFFT Loyalty - the UK-based customer engagement and loyalty platform for hospitality and other industries, raised approximately $638K in pre-seed funding led by Lighthouse Ventures, with participation from other investors. The funds will be used to expand the team.

Licella - the Australian biofuel company focused on circular economy solutions and carbon reduction secured strategic funding from Diamond Edge Ventures. The funds will support the development of its commercial projects, including ProjectSwift (SAF biorefinery project in Queensland) and the Altona Project (advanced recycling project in Victoria). 

Exoticamp - the Indian campsite discovery platform secured an undisclosed amount of Angel funding from Bhaskar Bollineni. The funds would be used to scale its technology platform and accelerate brand-building initiatives.

GoGoGrandparent - the US-based ride booking platform for aging adults and disabled individuals joined the AgeTech Collaborative accelerator program. No equity or funding was exchanged as a result of this program.

– M&A –

Space Perspective - the US-based developer of pressurized capsules to fly passengers to the edge of space was acquired by EOS-X Space, the space tourism company, for an undisclosed amount. 

Redeam: Technology Connecting Experiences - the US-based provider of digitized channel management and voucher redemption solutions for the experiences industry was acquired by Travel Curious, the travel and tour company helping hotels integrate experiences into their existing customer journey, for an undisclosed amount.

Specialist Holidays Group Ltd - the UK-based experiential travel company, which includes the American Holidays, Citalia, and Sovereign Luxury Travel brands and is owned by Travelopia, was acquired by TravCorp Holdings for an undisclosed amount.

Semine - the Norway-based AI-powered accounts payable automation software provider, was acquired by Rydoo, the business travel and expense management solution provider, for an undisclosed amount. 

Kyte - the US-based car rentals provider for trips longer than a ride-share, has sold select assets to Turo, the peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Only In Your State - the US-based travel and culture website for connecting travellers in the US was acquired by Launch Potato, the digital media company, for an undisclosed amount.