The first time I heard of PlacePass, the Boston travel startup invaded my office with a gang of Pokemon, without warning. Now the startup has come into my radar once again, but this time it's a far bigger deal and far less gimmicky.
Global hotel chain Marriott International is leading a Series A financing round for PlacePass, co-founder and Chief Brand Officer Emily Bernard told me in an email Tuesday. Marriott announced its investment in PlacePass earlier today.
Bernard declined to disclose the amount of the Series A, saying that the round is still open. She said some angel investors from the startup's seed round — whose amount was also not disclosed — are returning for the Series A. While she did not name any of the investors' names, she said they are from the travel, hospitality and tech industries.
"Between Marriott and the other investors, the Series A will give us good runway to build out our vision of providing immersive, high-quality experiences to travelers worldwide," Bernard said.
PlacePass provides a meta-search service for in-destination experiences, ranging from hiking trips and cruises to food tours and bundle passes for multiple events — basically, cool things to do wherever you go. As part of Marriott's investment in PlacePass, it will add more than 100,000 of these experiences across 800 destinations to the hotel chain's websites and apps.
"The addition of PlacePass activities and tours beginning later this year reflects Marriott's commitment to giving our guests a complete travel experience, whether they are in planning mode, staying in our hotels and even in-between stays when they're thinking about travel," Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott's global chief commercial officer, said in a statement.
PlacePass experiences that will be added include a guided tour of the filming locations from TV show "Downton Abbey," a chance to wrestle with a retired sumo wrestler in Tokyo and a cooking workshop with an Italian chef at a Tuscan farmhouse.
The startup has 20 employees and is hiring.
