[Funding alert] Berlin-based AI Travel Planner Layla in Funding

It helps users find places to go, locations to stay, and things to do when travelling by utilising AI-powered large language models and inspirational short-form travel films. Layla uses patented technology to streamline the process of finding your next vacation spot. It makes it feasible to plan and book holidays based on beautiful video material and customised itineraries.

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Layla fills the gap by tying inspiration from social media travel to every step of the booking process. Layla's Instagram messaging platform and app use massive language models to not only recommend highly appropriate destinations to users but also provide appealing, inspirational, short vertical videos that give consumers a clear idea of what to expect.

According to Layla co-founder Saad Saeed, billions of dollars' worth of travel-related transactions start in the social ecosystem but are never fully utilised.

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Saeed was after co-founder and chief technology officer of Flink, a German grocery delivery service that was the fastest-ever unicorn (company valued at over $1 billion) in Europe. With Firstminute Capital's support of Layla, co-founder and executive chair Brent Hoberman who founded lastminute.com in 1998—bears his support for the travel startup of the future.

The support from travel tycoon Paris Hilton, co-founder of Booking.com Andy Phillips, co-founder of Skyscanner Barry Smith, and others shows how excited the travel industry is about Layla.

Jeremy Jauncey stated “People today get inspired by short-form videos on social media first and foremost, but there is no way to turn this inspiration into a trip. We want to help users discover the perfect places by bridging the gap between social media, planning and booking.”

Saad Saaed added: “With a few simple swipes of your finger, you can ask Layla to find Maldives-like beaches in a destination that is more affordable and is not inundated with tourists. From a few simple Instagram DM exchanges, Layla will suggest the best flights, accommodation and activities in line with your budget and interests, alongside accompanying video content. Visual search is the future of travel for younger consumers. Our product gives users exactly what they want, in a medium they like to consume and on platforms where they spend most of their time.”

About Layla

Jeremy Jauncey, CEO and Founder of Beautiful Destinations, a well-known travel media brand with over 50 million social media followers, and Saad Saeed, co-founder of Flink, the grocery delivery service that became Europe's fastest-growing unicorn in its first year of operations and hired 10,000 people across four countries, established Layla.

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