Many companies are trying to use AI-powered chatbots (other than ChatGPT) in different industries, especially in the consumer sector. Berlin-based startup Layla is banking on this trend to create an eponymous chatbot (with an app) that suggests new travel destinations. It can also help them when it comes to bookings.
The company was founded by Jeremy Jauncey, founder of travel agency Beautiful Destinations with millions of social media followers, and Saad Saeed, who was co-founder of grocery delivery service Flink.
Jauncey told TechCrunch over a phone call that the company wants to bring a new solution to the travel industry based on its experience on social media and building tech products.
“Having spent a lot of time over the past 10 years in social media and the creator economy, we felt that travel discovery needed something new. We saw that after the pandemic, many users based their travel decisions on what they saw on Instagram and TikTok and took advantage of that.
And while the company is officially launching its app and chatbot today, Layla already has thousands of followers on Instagram, thanks to the Beautiful Destinations network. The founders believe that the Instagram chatbot provides a great entry point for users to search for different destinations to travel to.
Users can chat with Layla on Instagram about destinations, temperatures, best time to go, things to do as well as flight and hotel options. The bot also shows videos of different destinations from creatives (fetched from the Beautiful Destinations network) to give you an alternative view of the place.
Saeed stated that the startup is pushing people towards using Laila’s private application on Instagram after a few mutual conversations. In the app, people can create different lists, share them with friends, and have different conversations with Laila about different trips. Additionally, the app allows them to view videos, ticket prices, and hotel options in a richer way.
On average, a person goes to multiple websites to get everything related to travel advice from inspiration to the booking stage, Jauncey said. With Laila, the founders want to shorten that journey.
Leila has partnered with Booking.com to show hotel options and with Skyscanner to show flight options. Currently, it starts sharing fees for these transactions as a revenue stream. However, with the sheer scale, the startup is also open to exploring more money-making avenues such as personalized advertising opportunities.
The company has secured a seed investment of €3 million ($3.2 million) led by Firstmine Capital – established by Brent Hoberman, co-founder of last moment.com and M13. Other investors include Booking.com co-founder Andy Phillips, Skyscanner co-founder Barry Smith, and entertainment star Paris Hilton.
Laila feels that its differentiation lies in offering different types of content and not having a website-like structure where users have to apply filters to get search results. While the company uses large language models to analyze queries and display answers, it has built its own recommendation engine. Additionally, Saeed said, Laila is working on building vision technology to help it answer queries like “Show me destinations that look like Mars” or superficial recommendations similar to places in a photo or video.
Hoberman, one of the investors in the project, said Firstminit invested in the idea because it was passionate about combining the use of artificial intelligence to answer travel questions and display videos of different destinations to entice people to travel.
“Layla will face challenges in terms of educating customers on how to ask the right kind of inquiries so that the AI can provide accurate answers. Additionally, they will need to be the best travel inspiration layer to differentiate themselves from other solutions out there.
Competitors are also gearing up to use AI in their travel solutions. Vancouver-based Pilot is creating an AI-focused travel planner to easily share trip ideas with friends. Airbnb and Brian Chesky have already begun experimenting with AI-powered review summaries, and are open to introducing the technology into other parts of the app. Kayak and Expedia have their own GPTs (ChatGPT plugins) and the Matador Network travel publisher network. guide The app displays flight information in real time. However, investors believe that “even a small lead is important right now” when it comes to introducing AI into the travel industry.