Travel booking platform Travala recently announced that it secured an investment from the NEO EcoFund, and also released an updated technical roadmap outlining its goals for Q3 and Q4 of 2019.

EcoFund Investment

On July 11th, Travala reported that it had received investment from the NEO EcoFund, with funds “earmarked towards global growth, marketing, and talent acquisition.” According to CEO and co-founder Matthew Luczynski, Travala will use funds to double its developer team within the next six months.

Travala reported a 1,542% increase in the number of Travala.com users in the past six months. The platform claims an average saving of 15% on user bookings and currently offers a portfolio of 567,928 properties across 210 countries and territories.

The EcoFund, which was launched in 2017, is designed to assist the development and growth of projects in the NEO ecosystem. On the investment, NEO founder Da Hongfei said:

“As we enter a new era of blockchain adoption and given their proven track record of growth, I am confident, not only in Travala.com’s capabilities but [in] their commitment to the future of blockchain while potentially becoming one of the leading online travel platforms.”

Full statements from Matthew Luczynski and Da Hongfei may be found in the original release here.

Technical Roadmap

Travala released its technical roadmap for Q3 and Q4 on July 10th. The roadmap provides insight into the current development goals of the platform, including further UI/UX improvements for the website, refundable bookings, and plans to introduce additional blockchain use cases into the platform.

In Q3 2019, the team will focus on refinements for Travala.com. Changes will include improved site performance and UI, additional crypto payment support, refundable and same day bookings, and the conclusion of an ongoing security audit.

Moving forward into Q4, Travala expects to continue localization efforts and the development of a partner network suite. The team also aims to complete work on a mobile app and discount coupon module.

Additionally, the platform will begin integrating blockchain technology into its services. This will involve support for on-chain transactions for AVA payments, alongside givebacks, loyalty, rewards, and referrals. The team will also begin building out a smart contract for blockchain reviews.

The full technical roadmap may be viewed at the link below:

https://blog.travala.com/travala-com-roadmap-for-q3-and-q4-2019/