London-based AI-powered travel agency Holiwise has raised a €1.45 million pre-seed in an oversubscribed round backed by senior executives from global firms including Bank of America, Barclays, Google, and Goldman Sachs.
The raise was led by Bobby Previti (Head of SSA & Covered Bond Trading at Bank of America), and joined by Ulf Nilsson (Nordics & Eastern Europe CEO at DHL), who is also joining Holiwise’s board, Sabri El Jailani and Filippo Zorzoli (Barclays Investment Bank), and Houman Ashrafzadeh (Founder of Padium and Co-founder of Urban Greens).
Unlike traditional travel agencies that rely on human agents, or online travel agencies that force travellers to piece together fragmented bookings, Holiwise uses proprietary deep learning and dynamic packaging models to create personalised trips in seconds. Users can personalise trips by mood, budget, location or timeframe, and book entire packages, including flights, accommodation and activities, with a single click.
Holiwise was created to solve the frustrations of fragmented and time-consuming travel planning. The founding team, with backgrounds in finance, software engineering, and product development at global companies, set out to combine the scale of technology with the personalisation of a human travel agent. Drawing on extensive travel experience and strong technical expertise, they built Holiwise to reinvent how premium trips are discovered, planned, and booked.
Albin Eriksson Lippe, CEO and Co-Founder of Holiwise, shared:
We’ve identified a clear gap in the market between mainstream online travel agencies and high-end travel concierges. Premium travellers are underserved, often forced to choose between impersonal, self-serve booking platforms or expensive concierge services that are slow to access.
Holiwise is building an AI travel agent that combines the convenience of technology with the quality of a tailored luxury experience. It can instantly plan and book complete personalised itineraries, including synchronised flights, premium stays, and curated experiences for individuals or groups.
For discerning travellers, startups, and SMEs, Holiwise also offers a complimentary invite-only premium membership. Premium members gain access to a private platform with insider rates on more than one million global stays, often at prices far below mainstream sites. They also benefit from priority concierge support for flights, accommodation, restaurants, and more, plus tailored travel recommendations powered by Holiwise’s models.
The platform is already live with tens of thousands of monthly users, with over 80 per cent of customers returning to book again.
Bobby Previti, lead investor, comments:
I agree with the founders’ vision that there is a gap in the market for premium travellers. Holiwise is taking an innovative approach to solve the problem, with an exceptional team that understands the problem well. I strongly believe that the team is in the right place at the right time, working towards a vision that I’m keen to support.
The pre-seed round comes as Holiwise integrates with major travel industry platforms, including HBX Group, a leading B2B traveltech ecosystem, and Amadeus, the world’s largest global distribution system. These partnerships give users real-time access to flights, stays, and experiences across more than 10,000 destinations.
The new capital, combined with these partnerships, will accelerate the development of Holiwise’s AI travel agent and dynamic packaging models, expand platform features, and scale its premium concierge service.
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