While travel search giants Google, Kayak Software Corp. and ITA Software Corp. battle it out over the future of online travel search, social travel site operator Get out of Cambridge Inc. is just getting started. The company has raised a $560,000 seed round, according to a regulatory document filed Friday.
Founded in 2008 by Harvard College students Zachary Smith and Robert Corty, Get out of Cambridge operates gtrot.com, a site that lets students share travel plans and search for tickets and reservations.
It started as a digital update to the campus ride board – a long-time resource for students looking to save money by carpooling home for holidays and long weekends. Gtrot.com has since added flight, hotel and cab search services, combined with its social travel plan sharing function via Facebook Connect integration.
It’s not the first money raised by the startup; past regulatory filings indicate small funding rounds going back to June, 2009, totaling about $143,000.
The company announced at the end of January it is expanding to new college campuses, and hiring student “college reps” to evangelize the service.
Read more: Get out of Cambridge scores seed funds | Boston Business Journal