When was Hotwire founded?

Hotwire was founded in 2000 and raised its 1st funding round within a year of its incorporation.

Where is Hotwire located?

Hotwire is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.

How many employees does Hotwire have?

As of Jan 31, 2026, the latest employee count at Hotwire is 369.

Is Hotwire a funded company?

Hotwire is a funded company, having raised a total of $77M across 2 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a $***** PE round, raised on Jan 2000.

When was the latest funding round of Hotwire?

Hotwire's latest funding was a $***** Series A round on Aug 20, 2003, with participation from 0 investor. Its primary sector is Online Travel. In United States, the Online Travel sector has seen $158M in funding in 2026 to date.

Where does Hotwire rank among its competitors?

Hotwire ranks 1st amongst 15 active competitors, none of which are funded.

Who are the top competitors of Hotwire?

Hotwire's top competitors include StudentUniverse, Secret Travel and Jetsetter. Among them, Hotwire secured the most recent funding round in August, 2003.

Hotwire - 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors

Q: Is Hotwire an acquired company?

Hotwire got acquired by IAC on Sep 22, 2003.

Hotwire is an acquired company based in San Francisco (United States), founded in 2000 by Gregg Brockway. It operates as an Online retailer of discounted lodging, vehicle rentals, and flight bookings. Hotwire has raised $77M in funding. The company has 15 active competitors, including 5 that have exited. Its top competitors include companies like StudentUniverse, Secret Travel and Jetsetter.

Company Details

Online retailer of discounted lodging, vehicle rentals, and flight bookings. It provides access to last-minute travel deals for hotels, cars, and flights. The platform offers options for users seeking budget-friendly travel arrangements. Support resources are available through a help center and feedback channels.

Website: www.hotwire.com/
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Key Metrics

Founded Year

2000

Location

San Francisco, United States

Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$77M in 2 rounds

Latest Funding Round

Series A, Aug 20, 2003, $*****

Investors

75 & Sunny & 1 more

Ranked

1^st among 15 active competitors

Employee Count

369 as on Jan 31, 2026

Similar Companies

Lastminute & 70 more

Exit Details

Acquired by IAC (Sep 22, 2003)

View Hotwire's full profile

Hotwire is associated with 1 legal entity given below:

Legal Entity Name	Date of Incorporation	Revenue	Latest Employee Count	Documents
HOTWIRE INC CIN: 742938016 , United States, Active	May 02, 2016	-	-	-

Hotwire got acquired by IAC on Sep 22, 2003 at an acquisition amount of $685M.

Click here to take a look at Hotwire's acquisition in detail

Hotwire has raised a total funding of $77M over 2 rounds. Its first funding round was on Jan 2000. Hotwire has 2 institutional investors.

Here is the list of recent funding rounds of Hotwire:

Date of Funding	Funding Amount	Round Name	Post-Money Valuation	Revenue Multiple	Lead Investors	Other Investors
Aug 20, 2003	2062235	Series A	9481406	2221419	8958423	8788421
Jan 2000	3655467	PE	4913896	2803801	7166395	TPG

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View details of Hotwire's funding rounds and investors

The founders of Hotwire is Gregg Brockway.

Here are the details of Hotwire's key team members:

Gregg Brockway: Former Co-Founder of Hotwire and founder of 2 other companies, TripIt and Chairish. They are also an angel investor in 1 startup.

View details of Hotwire's Founder profiles and Board Members

Hotwire's employee count trend

Hotwire has 369 employees as of Jan 26. Here is Hotwire's employee count trend over the years:

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Top competitors of Hotwire include StudentUniverse, Secret Travel and Jetsetter. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of Hotwire, ranked by Tracxn score:

Rank	Company Details	Short Description	Total Funding	Investors	Tracxn Score
1st	Hotwire 2000, San Francisco (United States), Acquired	Online retailer of discounted lodging, vehicle rentals, and flight bookings	$77M	75 & Sunny, TPG	66/100
2nd	StudentUniverse 2000, Waltham (United States), Acquired	Online platform offering deals for traveling	-	Blue Tiger Solutions, TA Ventures	60/100
3rd	Secret Travel 2017, Phoenix (United States), Unfunded	App-based platform that provides deals on hotel & flight bookings	-	-	43/100
4th	Jetsetter 2009, New York City (United States), Acquired	Provider of curated travel planning resources	-	Matrix	38/100
5th	Vacation Store 2017, Orlando (United States), Unfunded	App-based platform that provides multiple travel services at a discounted price	-	-	33/100
6th	Last Minute Travel 1996, New York City (United States), Unfunded	Last-minute travel deals on hotels and flights for perfect holidays	-	-	32/100
7th	Fare Buzz 1994, New York City (United States), Unfunded	Travel booking platform for flights, hotels, cars, and vacation packages	-	-	27/100
8th	Travel Ticker 2015, San Francisco (United States), Acquired	Hotel booking platform offering group rates, discounts, and AI assistance	-	-	26/100
9th	Easy Click Travel 2002, Maitland (United States), Unfunded	Online travel agent focused on deals	-	-	25/100
10th	Beacon Travel 2021, Oceanside (United States), Unfunded	Membership based travel agency to book multiple travel services at discounted prices	-	-	24/100