# Certares

> Certares is a VC fund in New York backing Travel and Tourism. See 13 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New York, United States
- Total investments: 13
- Last investment: Aug 2023
- Lead investor: 54%
- Last fund: Jul 2023
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certares
- Website: https://certares.com

Certares is a group of seasoned private equity and operating executives with extensive industry, investment, transaction, and management experience. Certares investment activities are concentrated in several key sectors, including travel and tourism, hospitality, business and consumer services.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Certares. Shizune tracks 8 team members at Certares. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/certares?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $12M–$19M |
| Post-IPO Debt | $155M–$500M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Travel | 10 | 77% |
| Tourism | 5 | 38% |
| Leisure | 4 | 31% |
| Rental | 2 | 15% |
| Aerospace | 2 | 15% |

35 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Private Equity | 4 | 31% |
| Series A | 3 | 23% |
| Post-IPO Debt | 2 | 15% |
| Series B | 1 | 8% |
| Series C | 1 | 8% |

7 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 7 | 54% |
| France | 2 | 15% |
| Canada | 1 | 8% |
| Cyprus | 1 | 8% |
| Luxembourg | 1 | 8% |

6 countries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dhiren Fonseca | Partner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dhiren-fonseca |
| Amy C. Stuart | Managing Director & Head of Capital Formation | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/amy-c-stuart |
| Colin Farmer | Senior Managing Director and Head of Management Committee | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/colin-farmer |
| Jennifer Zhao | Director, Capital Formation | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jennifer-zhao |
| Michael Gregory O’Hara | Founder and a Senior Managing Director | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/michael-gregory-o-hara |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wheels Up | Wheels Up is a membership-based private aviation company that focuses on reducing the upfront cost to fly privately, providing flexibility, service, and safety. Its mobile app enables members to book flights, manage their accounts, and participate in ride-share opportunities. Its members also have given access to the Wheels Down program. | $500M | Post-IPO Debt | Aug 15, 2023 |  |
| HolidayMe | HolidayMe travel technology and leisure travel platform that provides digital solutions for airlines, tourism boards, travel agencies, DMCs, and online travel businesses. Founded in 2013–2014 under Traveazy DMCC, the company focuses on helping travel businesses build scalable booking platforms, manage global travel inventory, and create customizedtravel experiences. | $7M | Venture - Series Unknown | Jan 01, 2023 |  |
| Boatsetter | Boatsetter is a boat rental community connecting boat owners, boat captains, and anyone who seeks a water-full experience.Boatsetter.com offers a unique Boat sharing marketplace that will, for the first time, make boat rentals accessible to consumers regardless of their boating experience. We have created a catalyst for growth by unlocking the95% idle capacity of privately owned vessels, which in turn helps boat owners realize returns on their boat investments. Our distinct approach combines best-in-class collaborative market tools from companies like Airbnb (home rentals) and Uber (professional drivers) to create the only model capable of bringing the “new sharing economy” to the marine industry. We’ve assembled a uniquely qualified team of marine professionals, tech start-up veterans, and car rental industry experts to bring today’s collaborative “sharing” economy to the boating industry. We have significant traction and have established a national network of marine-industry businesses that are partnering with us on an exclusive basis to roll out the platform in the US. | $38M | Series B | Aug 01, 2022 |  |
| Sensible Weather | Sensible Weather is a climate risk technology company that is de-risking weather for travelers and travel partners. It offers a partner-branded Weather Guarantee service that automatically reimburses travelers when bad weather impacts their in-trip experience through its proprietary climate data and risk analytics platform that calculates WeatherGuarantee pricing in real-time, generates new revenue for partners, and enhances experiences for travelers. | $12M | Series A | May 04, 2022 |  |
| Wheelhouse | Wheelhouse is a business intelligence platform that helps turn the hosts & owners into superheroes. We're proud that thousands of hosts & owners have used our flagship product, data-driven pricing, to earn significantly more revenue from their business. We're a team of YC alums, data science PhD's, hedge fund engineers,product evangelists, and hustlers.Our teams core values are "empowered together" and "seriously fun". We think that captures the mood & values of a team that works exceptionally well together, pushes the envelope, and is not against cracking a beer together around 5pm on Friday.See more team members here: - https://angel.co/usewheelhouse - https://www.usewheelhouse.com/about-us | $16M | Series A | Apr 20, 2022 |  |
| UFODRIVE | UFODRIVE: People hate renting cars. We use advanced automation to create the highest rated car rental experience in the world. Digital, on-demand and all-electric. Find us in London, New York, Paris, and beyond. UFOFLEET: We help the biggest mobility brands automate complex ecosystems and build better products at scale. From consumer leases toshared delivery vans, UFOFLEET has transformed more than 30 products in 17 countries for companies like Hertz, Uber, Stellantis, and Amazon. | $19M | Series A | Feb 15, 2022 |  |
| Avoya Travel | Avoya Travel is a travel & tourism company that offers Vacation Packages. |  | Private Equity | Nov 22, 2021 |  |
| Avia Solutions Group | Avia Solutions Group is the world’s largest ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) provider, with a fleet of 192 aircraft. The group also provides a range of aviation services including MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul), pilot and crew training, ground handling, as well as a variety of associated services. Supported by 11,500highly skilled aviation professionals, the group operates in 68 countries worldwide. | $354.3M | Private Equity | Sep 13, 2021 |  |
| Voyageurs du Monde | Voyageurs du Monde is the leader in France in the fields of tailor-made travel (with the Voyageurs du Monde and Comptoir des Voyages brands in particular) and adventure travel (with the Terres d'Aventures and Allibert brands in particular). | $155M | Post-IPO Debt | Mar 10, 2021 |  |
| G Adventures | G Adventures has been a world leader and innovator in sustainable adventure travel since 1990. We invite you to explore a world of tours infused with inspiration and excitement that will take you off the beaten track into the real heart of the destination. Our approach to travel provides small groups and independent travellers the rare opportunityto connect with nature and local cultures.The choices for travel are vast - from safaris and cultural treks to family vacations and exotic expeditions to places you have never even imagined, there is an adventure for everyone. If you share a lust of life and have the insatiable curiosity to travel and truly experience the world we live in, then join us and embark on a quest for the extraordinary. We are The Great Adventure People - welcome to our world of adventure travel! |  | Private Equity | Feb 09, 2021 |  |

10 of 13 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Bpifrance](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bpifrance) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Hertz](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hertz) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Knighthead Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/knighthead-capital-management) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [01 Advisors](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/01-advisors-01) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [AfricInvest](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/afric-invest) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Airbnb China](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/airbnb-china) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does Certares invest in?

Certares invests primarily in Travel, Tourism and Leisure startups, most often at Private Equity and Series A stage. Most of the 13 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Certares's check size?

Certares typically joins rounds of $12M–$19M at Series A and $155M–$500M at Post-IPO Debt. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Certares participates in.

### How do I contact Certares?

Public channels for Certares include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Certares?

The team at Certares includes Dhiren Fonseca (Partner), Amy C. Stuart (Managing Director & Head of Capital Formation) and Colin Farmer (Senior Managing Director and Head of Management Committee), among 8 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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