DRCT says it will become a "neo airline" as a result of a pre-seed round to the tune of $500,000, with plans to raise up to $10 million more this year.
The Malta-based company raised the seed round from an unnamed angel investor in the aviation serctor, giving it a claimed valuation of $5 million.
The "neo airline" tags is being used to describe its strategy of becoming a virtual carrier that learns from passenger demand and creates offers based on what is available in the marketplace.
Partners so far include British Airways, Emirates, Qantas, KLM, Lufthansa, FlyDubai, Ryanair and Pegasus.
Viktor Nekrylov, managing partner at DRCT, says: "Airline distribution still uses 1980s technology, meaning pricing remains ineffective and costly with 1 billion seats unsold each year. At DRCT, it’s our mission to reinvent the distribution.
“Thanks to AI-driven algorithms that we have perfected, we are transforming our business to become a neo airline."
DRCT receives information directly from the seller at the moment of request. The company says, in most cases, it knows who is searching for the flight, from previous buying history and offers from all airlines that are proposed to the passenger. This, it says, gives it a "unique advantage to create personalized offers that will perfectly fit passengers expectations."