AI Assistance for Small Business Travel

Otto, a new travel booking service, has secured $6 million in seed funding led by Madrona Ventures, with participation from Direct Travel. This funding is expected to sustain the company for two years as it aims to streamline flight and hotel bookings through natural language queries. The platform eliminates the need for users to navigate multiple travel sites, offering alternatives if their preferred accommodations are unavailable. The service is designed to cater to small businesses that often find traditional travel management solutions, like Concur, prohibitively expensive. Otto positions itself as a cost-effective alternative, functioning as a personal travel assistant. The company’s executive chairman, who also founded Concur, highlighted the need for a more accessible solution in the business travel sector. Otto is leveraging its network of investors and advisors to enhance its travel data capabilities, integrating with services such as Direct Travel and Spotnana. The company is currently refining its AI models using proprietary data, aiming to minimize inaccuracies in booking suggestions. The cost of utilizing these models is projected to be significantly lower than the revenue generated from affiliate bookings. With plans for an alpha release, Otto intends to refine its product before launching a beta version by year-end. Users will be able to initiate bookings with simple commands, such as “Book me a trip for my next week’s meeting,” allowing the tool to tailor travel plans based on user preferences and historical data.