Travel discovery platform company Layla recently announced a €3 million investment from an esteemed group of travel leaders, including the co-founders of Booking.com (Andy Phillips) and Skyscanner (Barry Smith) and entertainment star and entrepreneur Paris Hilton. The funding round was led by Firstminute Capital (Brent Hoberman, co-founder of travel industry titan lastminute.com) and M13.
Layla was launched by Jeremy Jauncey (founder of Beautiful Destinations, a leading travel media brand with over 50 million followers on social media) and Saad Saeed (co-founder of Europe’s fastest-ever unicorn, grocery delivery service Flink – which grew to 10,000 employees across four countries in its first year alone).
Layla utilizes inspirational and short-form travel videos and AI-powered large language models to help users discover where to go, where to stay, and what to do when they travel. By applying proprietary technology, Layla makes it easier to discover your next travel destination and then plan and book trips based on stunning video content and personalized itineraries.
The company’s newly launched product suite includes an Instagram Travel Planner (activated by direct messaging @justasklayla) and the free-to-use Layla app, which allows users to discover places to go, book their travel and accommodation, and learn about destinations all in one place.
Social media and short-form videos have become dominant sources of travel discovery. And turning social media inspiration into a fully planned trip is a tedious process that requires juggling multiple platforms and websites and takes over 10 hours over a typical period of two-to-three weeks. Layla bridges this gap by connecting social travel inspiration with all elements of the booking process.
Through the help of large language models, Layla’s Instagram messaging platform and app not only present users with highly relevant destination recommendations but also paint a vivid picture of what users can expect through beautiful, inspirational, short vertical videos. And the Layla app answers any user queries, from flight prices to cultural insights to weather specifics.
Layla Co-founder Saad Saeed shared a view that billions of dollars of travel transactions originated in the social ecosystem but never being capitalized on. And Saeed was previously co-founder and chief technology officer at Europe’s fastest-ever unicorn (businesses valued at over $1 billion) German grocery delivery service Flink.
Having scaled that company to over 10,000 employees, his expertise in AI, technology, and building fast-growth scaleups neatly complements Jauncey’s travel and social media expertise. The product is led by Sardar Bali, who ran an independent product firm working with various Fortune 500 companies and European Unicorns.
Firstminute Capital’s backing of Layla sees Co-Founder and Executive Chair Brent Hoberman, who founded lastminute.com in 1998, throw his weight behind the next generation travel company. In addition, involvement from Booking.com co-founder Andy Phillips, Skyscanner Co-founder Barry Smith and travel mogul Paris Hilton demonstrates the travel industry’s excitement for Layla. Backing from U.S.-based venture capital firm M13 moreover indicates the company’s vast and global ambitions.
KEY QUOTES:
“Travel discovery has been broken for decades. 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.”
- Jeremy Jauncey
“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.”
- Saad Saaed
“Jeremy & Saad are building the future of travel discovery, innovating in content, social media and AI in a way I’ve never seen before. We’re proud and excited to back their journey with Layla.”
- Brent Hoberman, co-founder and General Partner of firstminute capital
