(Reuters) -WeTravel, whose online platform and AI tools streamline travel organisation, such as hotel reservations, flight bookings and payment processing, said it had raised $92 million in a new funding round led by Sapphire Ventures. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The new funding for WeTravel, which was founded in 2014 and has headquarters in San Francisco and […]
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WeTravel raises $92 million in funding to expand AI capabilities
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(Reuters) -WeTravel, whose online platform and AI tools streamline travel organisation, such as hotel reservations, flight bookings and payment processing, said it had raised $92 million in a new funding round led by Sapphire Ventures.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT:
The new funding for WeTravel, which was founded in 2014 and has headquarters in San Francisco and Amsterdam, underscores the growing momentum behind AI-powered technology in the travel and tourism industry.
A report this month by consultancy firm McKinsey said AI-based travel start-ups were attracting a surge of venture capital funding.
In February, travel booking service Klook said it had raised $100 million in funding led by Vitruvian Partners, while in July private equity firm CVC led a $220-million funding round in Singaporean travel technology specialist Airalo.
WHAT’S NEXT:
WeTravel said the new funding would allow it to build more AI tools to automate workflows.
KEY QUOTE:
“This funding round is a milestone for the operators who trust us to power their business,” saidTed Clements, chief executive officer of WeTravel.
“Multi-day travel is full of complex workflows–collecting payments, reconciling payments with bookings and partner pay-outs, andmanaging trip details–all of which take time and create room for error. WeTravel takes thatwork and makes it systematically flow, helping operators run more efficiently, grow faster,” he added.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Louise Heavens)