Alt-meta search shop Zoombu has managed to attract a fair amount of positive vibes in recent months, despite not throwing open its front door to the wider consumer web community.

The Oxford, UK-based start-up won the EyeForTravel Get Funded Show in London in May 2009 ahead of the widely acclaimed Joobili, niche content site Tourdust and brochure distribution service Travelwhere

But co-founder Rachel Armitage admits the fledgling company is now reaching a pivotal point in its short history – and the next few months are critical.

Zoombu’s raison d’être comes in the form of highly intuitive point-to-point travel meta search using air, rail, ship and car hire.

Until now Zoombu has allowed just a small number of registered beta testers to try out the product within two territories: United Kingdom and France.

Armitage says by early 2010 the Zoombu engine will include products in the UK, France, Spain and Germany, allowing users to plan trips point-to-point, on any form of transport (including calculating walking distance).

The roll-out for Zoombu will continue apace through 2010. Eastern European countries are on the addition lists for the first half of next year and North America earmarked from mid-2010.

It is from folks in the US, incidentally, where so much of the praise over Zoombu has emerged

And for anyone wondering why it takes so long to add a new country into the system?

Public bus transportation networks, especially in markets with hugely de-regulated services, such as the UK.

What has impressed many who have taken a look at the Zoombu engine and met the team (Armitage leaves tech duties to co-founder Alistair Hann) is the company’s impressively low capital burn rate.

Over the course of nine months, Zoombu has still yet to spend its last round of investment (a five-figure sum in November 2008), with the vast majority going on site development and the core search technology.

Armitage says the company is currently in talks with a UK investment fund.

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