Early and late-stage startup funding in hospitality: Effects on incumbents' market value

This study investigates the change in investors’ awareness of startups following received funding rounds. We specifically investigate the stock market assessing startups as potential new entrants in an industry that overlooked the disruptor Airbnb to the point where consumers started to embrace the new products, thus costing incumbents market share. This study contributes to the literature on competitive dynamics by investigating resource similarity and market commonality as potential influencer of investors’ awareness. Furthermore, this study offers a new contextualization for studies connecting risk assessment and market value and contributes to the tourism and hospitality literature by investigating investors’ awareness of potential new market entrants. Finally, this study provides managerial insights as it highlights what high-level decision makers can learn from the stock markets’ reactions to startup funding as a means of anticipating possible changes in the competitive environment.