Acai Travel, a software platform utilising artificial intelligence to transform travel operations based in Spain, has announced the completion of a €3.7 million Seed funding round led by Nauta, with additional support from DraperB1 and existing investor One Travel Ventures.
Founded in 2023 by Riccardo Vittoria and Henry Chen Weinstein, Acai Travel builds on the success of 30SecondsToFly, a previous venture by the same team, later acquired by American Express Global Business Travel. The founders aim to address inefficiencies in travel operations that have intensified with industry changes and rising demand following the pandemic.
Riccardo Vittoria, Co-founder and CEO of Acai Travel, said: “Acai is using AI to modernise travel operations with fast and easy-to-use tools so agents can focus on what they do best—delivering exceptional travel experiences. It’s an exciting milestone to raise a Seed round from experienced investors who understand the industry challenge and are backing us to solve it.”
The platform offers multiple tools tailored to the needs of travel agents, including AI Helpers for handling policy details, GDS Overlay for translating technical travel data into plain language, AI Translation to facilitate communication, and Intelligent Routing to match travellers with the appropriate agent. These combined solutions aim to reduce costs for large agencies by up to 50% while maintaining or enhancing customer service standards.
“In under four months, we’ve reduced average handling time by 20% for one of our TMC customers on a single account. As we roll out our full suite of products, including enabling non-GDS-trained agents to manage complex requests, we can achieve a 70% cost reduction. It’s time to bring travel operations into the 21st century—AI is the key to making that happen,” said Henry Chen Weinstein, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Acai Travel.
In addition to enhancing efficiency, Acai Travel’s data-driven approach enables travel companies to gain insights into traveller behaviour, supporting continuous improvement in customer experiences and loyalty. By analysing feedback and identifying areas for refinement, the platform helps businesses anticipate trends, reduce costs, and optimise their operations.
Jordi Viñas, General Partner at Nauta, commented on the investment, stating: “Covid-19 restrictions caused a huge drop in demand for travel and subsequently led to many trained agents leaving the sector. As demand returned to pre-pandemic levels, companies have struggled with efficiency and profitability. But Acai Travel’s platform, making use of LLM technologies and deep sector expertise, transforms travel operations by enabling companies to reduce handling times, hire untrained agents and build a cheaper, more flexible workforce. We’ve been really impressed by the founding team’s industry experience and are really excited to see the impact they have on the travel industry over the long term.”
This new capital will support Acai Travel’s mission to build a comprehensive operating system for travel agencies, designed to double agent efficiency, streamline travel call centres, and enhance the overall traveller experience. The platform has already gained traction across various travel segments, with notable clients such as Kiwi.com, lastminute.com, and World Travel Inc.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/11/barcelona-based-acai-travel-raises-e3-7-million-aiming-to-reinvent-travel-operations-using-ai/
