Traveling in Europe? A New Search Engine Wants to Show You Every Transportation Option. A startup goes the extra mile to help travelers in Europe plan routes.

The airline industry has changed dramatically in the past 15 years, with most reservations now being processed online. But for other modes of transit—rail, bus and ferry—booking and purchasing are still brick-and-mortar operations. Even in Europe, where train travel is prevalent, online sales account for less than 25 percent of orders, according to an estimate from GoEuro, a Berlin-based startup that offers comparative pricing across all types of transport: air, rail, bus and boat.

GoEuro aims to change that. Since launching in April 2013, the company has brought in $31 million in seed and venture funding in hopes of disrupting the rail and bus industries.

CEO Naren Shaam conceived GoEuro while traveling around Europe in summer 2010 after receiving his MBA from Harvard; he was slated to start a job in New York City that fall. It wasn't his first time backpacking—he'd enjoyed crisscrossing Southeast Asia several years earlier—but on this trip, as he traversed 14 European countries, he noticed a difference. "Ground transportation in Europe is superior to maybe the entire rest of the world," he says. "Rail and bus are both very convenient."