Just-launched conversational artificial intelligence (AI) travel concierge Odessia is sparking debate within the travel sector off the back of its $6 million raise announced last week.
Founder Francis Davidson, the former co-founder and CEO of now defunct, formerly Marriott-backed Sonder, posted about the funding on LinkedIn Wednesday.
“We raised $6M led by Sequoia to build the future of travel,” Davidson wrote.
With the news, Davidson shared a three-and-a-half minute video, illustrating how Odessia can help him plan a vacation to Mexico City that he can then export to his personal calendar and share.
Odessia, currently in preview mode, offered activities, hotels and flights based on his preferences—along with time slots—that the founder then added to his trip. Once selections were complete, he said the trip could then be booked in “one click” without exiting the platform.
“She plans and books entire trips in one conversation,” Davidson wrote in a LinkedIn post launching Odessia last week. “Apparently, she's the goddess of travel.”
In the video posted to LinkedIn on Wednesday, Davidson did not show what happens when the trip is booked.
His post garnered quite a bit of attention, with more than 1,000 reactions and nearly 200 comments. Many were congratulatory—many were not.
Klaus Kohlmayer, chief evangelist and development officer of IDeaS, wrote that Odessia looks “very slick.”
“This is my first stop when thinking about travel now,” wrote Tikhon Bernstam, general partner of Uncommon Capital.
Meanwhile, some cited their own, similar efforts.
“Oh man another trip planning chatbot thank god i pivoted,” wrote Jovan Kis, co-founder of TrueStay.
Mika Kozma, co-founder and product design leadership at Mindtrip, another AI trip planner and a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2025, wrote that it “looks familiar.” He added: “Congrats on the launch.”
PhocusWire counts tens of trip planning startups all vying for consumer attention currently. And other industry executives raised concerns about Odessia’s model.
“You mention ‘bookable on the spot’ in the intro post, but the video ends without showing what happens after saying ‘I can one-click book it,’” commented Martijn van der Voort, non-executive director of Murfee AI Travel Management Limited. “What actually happens when that button is clicked? Where does the user land? Is any credit card information already stored on the platform? How is the payment processed, and through which rails?”
A number of other LinkedIn users questioned what Odessia’s moat will be. Davidson replied to one comment: “Being the best product to plan and book trips.”