Travel discovery used to start with a search box and a page of results. Increasingly, it starts with a conversation.
This market map tracks the companies building AI travel planners and agents. They’re sorted by how much of the work the AI does. Some plan the trip and leave the booking to you. Others book and pay end to end. A third group has AI draft the trip and human experts finish it. The last is advisor networks, where AI is the copilot and the human sells.
It matters because the incumbents are moving. Expedia Group bought Layla in July. Booking Holdings launched Lola in September. Mindtrip now sells flights directly inside its chat. Money is following: Fora, a network of human advisors that has added an AI assistant, reached a $1B valuation in July.
The real shift is in discovery. When a traveler asks an assistant for “five days in Lisbon under €2,000,” the assistant picks the neighborhoods, hotels and activities. The traveler never scrolls a results page. Rankings, reviews and ad placements matter less than being a supplier the agent can read, trust and book. Brands that make it into the answer get the booking. The rest are never considered.
Below is every player, with links, founding dates and funding.
1. AI trip planners & inspiration
Self-serve AI that builds itineraries and mostly hands you off to partners to book.
| Company | Website | Founded | HQ | Funding & backers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airial | airial.travel | 2023 | San Francisco, CA | $3M seed (Jun 2025) led by Montage Ventures; South Park Commons |
| Copilot2trip | copilot2trip.com | 2023 | Dubai, UAE | Not disclosed |
| Dream Trip | thedreamtrip.app | — | — | Not disclosed (subscription app) |
| FigFinder AI | figfinder.ai | — | London, UK / Sydney, Australia | Not disclosed |
| GuideGeek | guidegeek.com | 2023 (by Matador Network, est. 2006) | — | Funded by parent Matador Network |
| iMean AI | imean.ai | 2021 | — | None reported |
| iplan.ai | iplan.ai | — | — | Not disclosed |
| JRNEY | jrney.travel | 2025 | Estonia | Not disclosed |
| Layla | layla.ai | 2023 | Berlin, Germany | ~€5M (First Minute Capital, M13). Acquired by Expedia Group, 31 Jul 2026 |
| Mindtrip | mindtrip.ai | 2023 | San Francisco, CA | $22.5M total, incl. Capital One Ventures and United Airlines Ventures (Dec 2025) |
| MonkeyTravel | monkeytravel.app | — | — | Bootstrapped / none disclosed |
| Pilot | pilotplans.com | 2020 | Vancouver, Canada | $600K |
| Polarsteps | polarsteps.com | — | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Not verified |
| Rhyme (fka Roamy) | rhyme.travel | — | — | Not disclosed (iOS app Oct 2025) |
| Stardrift | stardrift.ai | 2024 | San Francisco, CA | Y Combinator S24; amount undisclosed |
| Steller | steller.co | 2014 | Kirkland, WA | $42M total; $22M Series B (2024) |
| Stippl | stippl.io | 2021 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ~$1.3–1.5M total (pre-seeds 2023–24) |
| Stride Travel | travelstride.com | 2016 | Austin, TX | $2.6M total (NFX, SKY VC and others) |
| Traveln.ai | traveln.ai | 2022 | — | Not disclosed |
| Tripsora | tripsora.com | 2023 | London, UK | Spartan Incubator; amount undisclosed |
| Vacay | usevacay.com | — | United States | Not disclosed (app released 2023) |
| Vaya | flyvaya.com | 2024 | San Francisco, CA | Y Combinator F24; amount undisclosed |
| Wanderlog | wanderlog.com | 2019 | San Francisco, CA | $1.5M seed (2021): General Catalyst, Abstract Ventures |
| Wonderplan | wonderplan.ai | 2022 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | None disclosed |
2. AI booking agents & concierges
Consumer-facing AI that books and pays end to end, with a human only as a fallback.
| Company | Website | Founded | HQ | Funding & backers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beeline | heybeeline.com | 2026 | London, UK | Not disclosed |
| Lola | lola.com | 2026 (original Lola.com: 2015, shut 2021) | New York / Cambridge, MA | Backed by Booking Holdings; amount undisclosed. Founded by Kayak’s Steve Hafner and Paul English |
| Odessia | odessia.com | 2026 | San Francisco, CA | $6M seed led by Sequoia Capital (Jun 2026) |
| Otto | ottotheagent.com | 2024 (announced Aug) | Seattle, WA | $6M seed (Aug 2024) led by Madrona; business travel, human approves each booking |
| Travelstart | travelstart.com | 1999 | Cape Town, South Africa | Private; legacy OTA with an AI assistant |
| Vuelo | getvuelo.com | 2025 | London, UK | €64M “seed” (Mar 2026), of which ~€57M debt: Backed VC, Play Ventures, Viola Credit |
| YGO Trips | ygo.ai | 2023 | Berlin, Germany | €2.5M led by GetAway Group (Aug 2024). Now rebranded YGO AI |
3. Hybrid: AI + human experts
AI drafts the trip; the company’s own humans refine or book it for the consumer.
| Company | Website | Founded | HQ | Funding & backers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holiday Tribe | holidaytribe.ai | 2022 | India | ~$3M pre-Series A (Aug 2025) led by Powerhouse Ventures |
| Tourlane | tourlane.com | 2016 | Berlin, Germany | $26M Series D (Nov 2024) |
| Voyagier | voyagier.com | 2025 | Baltimore, MD | $1.25M at a $7M valuation (incl. TEDCO) |
4. Advisor networks & advisor tech
The human travel advisor is the seller; AI is their copilot.
| Company | Website | Founded | HQ | Funding & backers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acai Travel | acaitravel.com | — | New York, NY | Minority investment from Amadeus (Jun 2025); ~$4M reported |
| Fora Travel | foratravel.com | 2021 | New York, NY | $138.5M total; $60M Series D at $1B valuation (Jul 2026), led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures |
| Gifted Travel Network | giftedtravelnetwork.com | — | Mooresville, NC | Not disclosed |
| Nicer | nicer.travel | 2023 | — | $2M pre-seed (Feb 2024) led by Trip Ventures |
| Tern | tern.travel | 2022 | — | $17M total; $13M Series A (May 2025) led by Viewpoint Ventures |
| TripWorks | tripworks.com | 2019 | New York, NY | Not disclosed |
