Airfare analytics and forecasting company Flyr has attracted the investment capital of high-profile startup backer Peter Thiel to the tune of $8 million.
Thiel, most famous for leading PayPal until its sale to eBay and for an early-stage investment in Facebook, is supported in the round by existing investors JetBlue Technology Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, AXA Strategic Ventures, Amadeus, Western Technology Investment, Plug and Play and Chasm Capital Management.
The Series A brings the total investment in the company so far to around $15 million.
The last sizeable investment was for a $3.7 million seed round in April 2015, led by Montage Ventures.
Jean Tripier, co-founder and CEO, who is probably best known for overseeing the sale of Worldmate to Carlson Wagonlit, says the latest round will be used to expand Flyr "beyond its offering to commercialise new breakthrough products".
Flyr essentially forecasts changes in the price and availability of tickets for individual flights.
It enables large players, such as travel intermediaries, insurance companies, and credit card companies, to create and sell fare-protection products with its technology.
Three products are included within the platform: FareKeep, Foresight and FareBeacon, covering ticket protection, predictive analytics and fare alerts respectively.
Tripier says:
"Our fare prediction platform enables solutions that provide peace of mind for travelers, and now we can push innovation even further and faster to meet the demand for new and better ways to book your next trip."