Lithuanian-Canadian startup Eddy Travels closes €1.1 million pre-seed round for AI travel assistant

Eddy Travels, a travel tech startup founded by Lithuanians and based in Toronto, has raised €1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round, led by Baltic VC Practica Capital with participation from Lithuanian firm Open Circle Capital, Techstars Toronto, and angel investors.

Founded in 2018, the company has developed an AI travel assistant, which communicates with users via chat apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Pulling from Skyscanner, the digital assistant can search flights, accommodation, restaurants, and travel insurance. For now the funding will go to immediate product development work that is adapting the app for travelers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the disease is contained and travel restrictions lifted, the startup will shift focus and expand into new markets. Will Cardwell, partner at Open Circle Capital, commented: "Before the crisis, Eddy Travels was able to grow in a few months from 100,000 users to nearly two million users. The numbers show that travelers around the world already require advanced yet simple to use solutions to plan travel, and new needs will emerge after the COVID-19 crisis.”