Travel membership startup Origin has raised $5 million in funding to help simplify the trip-planning process.
Project A led the round into Origin, which launched this week and was co-founded by ex-employees Eli Bessert (formerly of Apple, Netflix and Stitch Fix) and Tamar van de Paal (formerly of WPP, Nextdoor and Google).
Origin combines technology and human expertise to plan trips for its members through its app. Its travel curators have local expertise and use machine learning to help travelers find, plan and book their trips, including flights, accommodation and experiences.
Members receive unlimited trip planning as well as exclusive upgrades and 24/7 curator support. Origin says its curators are up-to-date on changing local travel regulation and COVID testing requirement as well as cancellation policies.
Origin also offsets the carbon emissions of its travelers for each trip and prioritizes accommodation and destinations that have a strong connection to the local community.
“We created Origin because modern travel has become extremely complicated and we believe that transformational travel allows people to live out their dreams,” says Bessert.
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“The barrier of travel planning, the time it consumes, and insider knowledge on destinations are holding people back from maximizing their travel experiences. Origin removes all those obstacles and makes the end-to-end experience a breeze."
Adds Project A’s Mey Cezairli: "While travel booking has been digitized at the expense of traditional travel agencies years ago, the process of booking complicated trips like a safari has remained burdensome for travelers. At the same time mobile-first millennials and GenX are becoming the driving force behind the growing premium travel market.
“We believe that by blending human touch with the latest machine learning technology, Origin has the potential to create a scalable premium travel assistant for highly personalized trips that is making travel much more special and convenient."
Origin annual membership costs $3,000 for unlimited trip servicing.