TNMT Newsletter #193: Another hidden champion

Hi there,

Our recent analysis on Europe’s startup momentum got picked up by Business Insider (you’ll need your German skills to read it).

Today, we’re keeping that storyline alive with the next edition in our hidden champion series. 

And this one’s fun: a European tech player showing travelers what their airlines can’t (or won’t) tell them.

Who is it? 

Scroll down to find out.

Enjoy.

Your Lufthansa Innovation Hub Team

Research 

Update: Europe’s Hidden Champions in Travel & Mobility

Before we introduce our latest European standout addition, let’s quickly rewind the journey of this series, because Europe’s hidden champions tell a bigger story about how the continent is reshaping Travel and Mobility Tech.

We started in space. 

Isar Aerospace was our first callout – a symbol of Europe’s deep-tech ambitions and a company literally reaching beyond the skies. 

From there, we came back down to Earth, but not too far. 

• Our second edition focused on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), with Velocys and SkyNRG as two standout pioneers.
• Their work illustrates Europe’s edge in climate-driven innovation: while other regions debate (or deny), Europe is building the ecosystem to make sustainable flying commercially viable.

Then, we zoomed in even closer to the aircraft itself.  In our third chapter, we spotlighted Aviation-Tech startups tackling real operational bottlenecks. 

• Loft Dynamics is reinventing pilot training with VR simulators, potentially a lifeline in a world facing a massive pilot shortage. 
• And Draxon (an early-stage startup from Germany) is virtualizing ground-handling fundamentals, making aircraft load onboarding faster, cheaper, and safer in one of aviation’s most labor-intensive domains.

Taken together, these stories show a clear pattern.

Europe may not always shout the loudest, but it does produce promising startups solving fundamental problems for the future of travel. 

Now, for the fourth edition, we’re staying in Aviation Tech but shifting focus to one of the industry’s most valuable (and often overlooked) assets: data.

The hidden champion we’re crowning today is Flightradar24 .

Most of us are familiar with Flightradar24, especially through its iconic live flight maps that often go viral on social media. 

• Whether it’s aircraft rerouting around no-fly zones like the Ukraine.
• Record-breaking days with the skies packed to capacity.
• Or celebrity jets sparking public debate.

Flightradar24 has become the go-to window into global air traffic.

But beyond the social media buzz, what makes Flightradar24 truly special is the technology behind it.

• Instead of relying on traditional, closed flight-tracking systems (like radar and onboard transponders visible only to air traffic controllers), the company pioneered large-scale use of ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast).
• This system enables aircraft to broadcast their positions using unencrypted signals via 1090 MHz, which Flightradar24 captures through a global network of more than 50,000 ground receivers, most of which are operated by volunteers, aka aviation enthusiasts.

In the US and Europe, all commercial aircraft are now required to install ADS-B technology, and Flightradar24 estimates that about 70% of global commercial traffic now carries an ADS-B transponder.

The result? 

A real-time map of global air traffic that disrupted the traditional, often restricted world of flight tracking and, most importantly, made it available to everyone. 

All you need is the Flightradar24 app or website.  

Now, if you think real-time flight maps are just for aviation geeks and digital plane spotters, think again. 

Flightradar24 consistently ranks among the most visited travel websites and apps in the world.

• In July alone, the site received nearly 70 million visits. 
• That puts Flightradar24 firmly in the global top 10 of travel websites and right up there with OTA heavyweights like Expedia. 

And here’s the kicker: it’s way ahead of any airline website.

So, where does Flightradar24’s massive traffic actually come from?

Sure, the platform is frequently cited in news stories and headline-catching articles – whether it’s tracking unusual travel patterns or reporting on Bill Gates arriving on time for Jeff Bezos’ wedding. 

But media buzz alone doesn’t explain the scale of its user base.

Two groups are far more important:

1) Travelers: Millions of passengers use Flightradar24 to track the status of their flights, especially their incoming aircraft, long before the airline provides any transparency. It’s become the unofficial tool for frustrated travelers seeking real-time clarity that airlines rarely offer.

2) Industry users: Airlines and other aviation players (like Boeing, Airbus, and a range of TMCs) increasingly rely on Flightradar24 to monitor not only their own fleets but also those of their competitors. 

To serve this growing B2B demand, Flightradar24 launched a dedicated API in October last year, opening up its real-time tracking data for professional use cases at scale.

From side project to profitable powerhouse

And it’s particularly this untapped B2B potential that makes Flightradar24 such a compelling hidden champion in travel. 

Because while the company is already financially strong, its current growth trajectory still looks far from fully exploited.

Here’s a look at the high-level numbers:

• Flightradar24 has grown steadily over the past five years, reaching nearly $40 million USD in revenues in 2024, largely driven by its paid subscription model.
• The free version offers live flight tracking for casual users, but it’s the premium tiers (with added data layers, historical flight records, and advanced features) that have converted millions into paying customers worldwide.

What’s even more impressive: 

• Flightradar24 operates with profit margins north of 50%. 
• Few travel-tech companies can match that kind of financial profile. 
• Even more remarkable, the entire business is bootstrapped, with no outside investors.

It all began as a side project in 2006, when the founders were running a flight price-comparison site and started experimenting with ADS-B tracking.

By 2009, Flightradar24 had grown into a standalone business stream and hasn’t looked back since.

But here’s the real kicker: all this success has come primarily from B2C subscriptions.

Once Flightradar24 fully unleashes its B2B potential (through more data APIs, airline and airport integrations, and enterprise partnerships), the growth story could accelerate even further.

And we’re not the only ones who think so.

A new chapter under private equity

Four weeks ago, in a move that surprised many, Flightradar24’s founders sold a 35% stake to London-based private-equity firm Sprints Capital at a rumored valuation north of $500 million USD.

That’s serious money, implying an EBIT multiple of roughly 24x. For a bootstrapped, steadily growing travel-tech company, that’s an unusually rich valuation. (Of course, with no official confirmation, the actual number could be lower.)

Either way, it marks a massive payday for Flightradar24’s founder team, who turned a hobby project into one of Europe’s most valuable aviation data businesses.

Now the big question: what does this mean for the future of Flightradar24?

In all likelihood, a more aggressive monetization path. 

• Private equity investors aren’t exactly known for putting user interests first. 
• The days of a feature-rich freemium model may well be numbered, as Sprints Capital will look to maximize returns on its half-billion-dollar bet.

On the B2B side, we can expect a significant build-out of Flightradar24’s commercial offering. 

The API (already a key growth driver) may see steep price increases as the firm positions itself as the gold standard for professional flight-tracking data.

Whatever happens next, Flightradar24 remains one of Europe’s quiet success stories: a bootstrapped, steadily scaling, and highly profitable business in a tech ecosystem often obsessed with hypergrowth and venture backing.

And Flightradar24 isn’t flying solo. 

The surge of attention (and investment) into flight-tracking highlights just how attractive this space has become. 

Which brings us to our final section: a closer look at the emerging competitors reshaping the flight-tracking market.

The next wave of flight tracking challengers

Flightradar24 may be the undisputed leader, but it isn’t the only player in the sky. 

Several other platforms have carved out niches in the flight-tracking space. A few examples:

• Radarbox.com: A direct consumer-facing competitor offering real-time flight data.
• FlightAware: More analytics-driven, with a strong focus on B2B and government use cases (we’d bet Sprints Capital took a close look at them as well).
• Flighty: Positioned as a high-end travel companion app with a sleek design and a clear B2C focus.

But there’s one emerging company we’re particularly excited about, and, like Flightradar24, it comes from Sweden: Wingbits

Currently still in beta, Wingbits uses the same ADS-B technology as Flightradar24 and its peers. 

But its business model is fundamentally different. 

• Instead of relying on volunteers who provide flight-tracking data for free, Wingbits is building the first rewards-based flight-tracking network. 
• What that means: contributors are directly compensated with $WINGS tokens for the data they provide.

So far, the strategy seems to be paying off:

• 2,100 active stations installed within the first year, tracking 120,000 flights daily across 85 countries.
• According to Wingbits, the network is growing faster than any other flight-tracking system in the past.
• Over 90% of receivers are exclusive to Wingbits, creating unique data sources rather than duplicating existing coverage.
• More than $9 million USD in VC funding raised across two rounds.

It will be fascinating to see how Wingbits scales from here. 

Could it become the next big flight-tracking success story? 

One where not just the founders, but an entire community of hardware contributors, share the upside?

Only time will tell. 

We’ll keep you posted.

Press Picks 

Our Recommended Must Reads 

NEW AIRLINE LOYALTY – The transactional reality of flight booking and loyalty programs has caused travelers to endlessly hunt for deals, leading to eroded trust when booking flights. Flight booking and frequent flyer programs must evolve toward a new state, when travelers return voluntarily because they trust what’s being offered.

Read more by Caravelo

SOCIAL MEDIA & TRAVEL – Social media giant TikTok is launching an advertising solution tailored to the travel industry called Travel Ads, driven by Smart+. The solution, which incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) elements, is TikTok’s first ad format built with travel in mind.

Read more by  PhocusWire

FUNDING DROUGHT – For startup funding in travel, the third quarter felt much like the second quarter. There were only a few rounds, and those that were announced were at the pre-seed and seed stages, peppered with a handful of larger rounds here and there.

Read more by PhocusWire

FUNDING EXCEPTION – Fetcherr, a specialist in AI-powered pricing and inventory control for airlines, has raised $42 million in Series C funding. Using its own large market model, Fetcherr digests market dynamics to help airlines forecast demand and generate real-time decisions around pricing, inventory and resource management.

Read more by PhocusWire

AIRLINE STRATEGY – Our parent company, the Lufthansa Group, is banking on AI, automation, and digitalization to boost profitability by the end of the decade. The airline group presented a turnaround plan, which includes the largest fleet renewal in the company's history and ambitious financial targets.

Read more by Forbes

AUTONOMOUS DRIVING – A peer-reviewed study shows Waymo robotaxis are now 85% safer than human drivers over 56.7 million miles, with Waymos hitting 250,000 weekly rides and expanding everywhere.

Read more by The Neuron

Deal Tracker 

Most Recent Investment Deals

– VC –

Hermeus - The US-based operator of aerospace and defense technology developing hypersonic aircraft, raised close to $160 million in Series C funding from Blanck Capital. Hermeus has raised a total amount of $358 million to date.

WeTravel - The US-based operating platform for multi-day travel businesses raised $92 million of Series C funding in a deal led by Sapphire Ventures. Base10 Partners, Left Lane Capital, Cross Creek Advisors, and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The funds will be used for platform innovation, expanding global payment infrastructure, and building AI-driven tools to automate workflows.

Cardless -  the fintech infrastructure company that enables businesses to launch credit card programs and works with Qatar Airways and LATAM, raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from Activant Capital, Industry Ventures, and Pear VC, bringing total funding to over $170 million.

Fetcherr  - The Israel-based developer of pricing intelligence software for airlines, including Delta Airlines, raised $42 million of Series C funding led by Salesforce Ventures. Other participants included Battery Ventures, M-Fund Club, and Left Lane Capital. The funds will be used for international market penetration.

OXCCU TECH LTD - The UK-based company converting waste carbon into sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) raised $28 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round, including new investors Orlen VC, Safran Corporate Ventures, IAG Ventures (International Airlines Group's corporate venturing arm), Hostplus, and TCVC, alongside continued support from existing backers Clean Energy Ventures, IP Group/Kiko Ventures, Aramco Ventures, Eni Next, Braavos Capital, and the University of Oxford.

BusCaro - The Pakistan-based mobility start-up raised $2 million of seed funding led by Daman Investments, including Wahed Ventures, Cartography Capital, Accelerate Prosperity, Epic Angels Network, and other undisclosed investors. The funds will be used to scale its tech-enabled commuting across Pakistan.

Hospitable - the short-term rental property management platform founded in 2016, raised more than $1.5 million from 100 customers and employees across 32 countries. This funding supports a $250,000 agreement with OpenAI to accelerate AI development and expand the product roadmap.

Sora Fuel - the climate technology company specializing in the manufacturing of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) raised $250,000 in accelerator funding by joining the latest cohort of the Shell GameChanger Accelerator, co-hosted with NREL, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory.

Hello Inc - The China-based urban shared mobility provider raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Alibaba Group. Investment will support joint work on AI algorithms and smart driving technology for commercial robotaxi fleets.

VOLANT (China) - Shanghai’s eVTOL developer raised additional venture funding from Meridian Capital China, SAIC Motor, and Shangqi Capital.

– M&A –

Classic Vacations - Classic Vacations, a luxury travel company, has been acquired by TBO Tek Ltd., a global travel distribution platform, for $125 million. The acquisition enables TBO Tek to accelerate its entry into the mature North American travel market and strengthen its presence in the luxury outbound travel segment. 

ATPI Group - The UK-based corporate travel and events management provider was acquired, for an undisclosed amount, by Direct Travel via Blackstone, Durable Capital Partners, Madrona Venture Group, and Top Tier Capital Partners, through an LBO in September 2025. Both companies are long-time strategic partners.

Flexkeeping - the hotel operations platform founded in 2012 that provides automation and scheduling tools for housekeeping teams, was acquired by Mews, the hospitality operations platform, with the transaction managed by Mews Ventures to deliver a unified platform for hotel management.

Key Travel (Europe, Middle East, and Africa operations) - the travel management company specializing in corporate travel for nonprofits and humanitarian groups, has had its regional operations acquired by Trip.com Group's corporate arm, Trip.Biz, on undisclosed terms. This acquisition positions Trip.com to expand in specialized sectors and strengthen its push into the Western travel management company market.

Key Travel (U.S. division) - Key Travel's U.S. division was acquired by Canada's Globespan Travel Management for an undisclosed amount.