An injection of $7 million to the TripIt coffers is expected to spark a wave of new features to the service as the itinerary and trip planning marketplace becomes increasingly competitive.
The investment from Azure Capital Partners and O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures, TripIt's third round, brings the total amount of external capital thrown into the business to $13.1 million.
TripIt officials say the latest wave will enable the company to launch new leisure and business-focused features to the Tripit system at a quicker rate.
The business has found itself having to compete with a number of new entities on the scene during 2009, including the emergence of Traxo and new tools from Kayak.
Marketing to consumers will be one of the other examples cited by TripIt as a result of the new investment as well as new distribution deals and partnerships.
An official says:

"[The] $7M validates our business model, and the round was oversubscribed, which shows significant investor interest in a pretty tough economy."