Startup Stage: Holiwise uses AI to provide personalized travel recommendations

What is your 30-second pitch to investors?

Holiwise is developing an AI-powered travel agency with proprietary machine learning and dynamic packaging models to help premium travelers experience the world effortlessly. With our technology, we are delivering premium travel experiences with the personalized service of a concierge, at the speed and price point of modern platforms, and up to 10x faster than traditional travel agencies.

Describe both the business and technology aspects of your startup.

Holiwise is an AI-powered travel agency for premium customers, combining in-house machine learning models with human-centered service. On the business side, we generate revenue through commissions and dynamic packaging margins. On the technology side, we’re building proprietary machine learning and dynamic packaging models that analyze customer preferences and market data to create personalized premium travel experiences.

Give us your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the company.

Strengths

• Proprietary AI models delivering hyper-personalized travel for premium customers
• Strong early traction with 80% booking retention rate
• High referral-driven growth from loyal customers

Weaknesses

• Early-stage brand awareness still developing
• Potential for AI agents to complete bookings is uncertain and evolving

Opportunities

• Growing demand for personalization in premium travel
• Expansion into subscription-based concierge services
• Strategic partnerships with airlines, hotels, and lifestyle brands

Threats

• Competitive pressure from large OTAs adopting AI
• Uncertain global macro environment impacting discretionary premium travel spend

What travel pain points are you trying to alleviate from both the customer and the industry perspectives?

For most people, travel is a way to reduce stress from everyday life. Still, 89% of people experience anxiety during the travel planning process. Planning and booking trips is, for many travelers, a stressful experience because small errors can lead to financial losses, prices tend to rise and it’s often difficult to get hold of customer support if something goes wrong.

We are helping frequent travelers alleviate these pain points, saving significant time and money by having an efficient point of contact for everything travel-related.

Now that the product is built, what’s your strategy for customer acquisition?

Our core strategy leverages a premium customer referral system, which has historically driven the strongest and most engaged customer growth for Holiwise. We’ve found that the fastest way to establish social proof, which is particularly important for emerging travel businesses, is to establish high-intent referrals. We are also continuing to focus on organic SEO strategies where we’ve had success in the past.

Tell us what process you've gone through to establish a genuine need for your company and the size of the addressable market.

Our customer development process has involved hundreds of interviews and daily conversations with premium travelers. We’ve assessed the pain points by focusing on numbers that matter, particularly referral and retention rates from paying customers that indicate our product’s potential and stickiness.

How and when will you make money?

Holiwise currently makes money through commission-based revenue and dynamic packaging margins on flights, hotels and experiences, with future recurring revenue coming from subscription-based concierge memberships.

What are the backgrounds and previous achievements of the founding team?

Albin Eriksson Lippe, co-founder & CEO, ex-Goldman Sachs

• London-based entrepreneur and salesperson, with five years of experience covering macro hedge funds at Goldman Sachs.

Kristian Lexeklint, co-founder & CFO, ex-Barclays Investment Bank

• Entrepreneur and financial engineer, with four years of experience as derivatives trader and salesperson at Barclays Investment Bank

Apurva Amin, co-founder & CTO, ex-Microsoft & Xapien

• 15+ years of software development, including at Microsoft, Xapien and various hedge funds

Maria Angelica Ancheta, founding engineer, ex-Spotify

• 11+ years of software development, specializing in front-end and web libraries. Previously senior software engineer at Spotify.

How have you addressed diversity and inclusion within your business?

Diversity is built into Holiwise from day one—our founding team has international backgrounds coming from three different countries. We believe our multicultural perspectives help us design travel experiences that resonate with a global and diverse customer base.

What's been the most difficult part of founding the business so far?

The hardest part has been building AI models that genuinely understand our premium customers while ensuring every trip feels effortless and personal. Balancing technology with human touch in travel is complex but crucial to our long-term vision.

Generally, travel startups face a fairly tough time making an impact—so why are you going to be one of the lucky ones?

We are solving a pain point for a customer type that we are close to and know well. Our early traction indicates that there is a clear gap in the market between mainstream online travel agencies and luxury travel advisors, demonstrated by our high referral and booking retention rates.

A year from now, what state do you think your startup will be in?

A year from now, we expect to have scaled our AI-powered travel platform, expanded our premium customer base across Europe, and refined our dynamic packaging models to deliver personalized trips. Our recent €1.45 million pre-seed funding will allow us to accelerate product development and establish key strategic partnerships.

What is your endgame? Going public, acquisition, growing and staying private, etc.

Our priority is to build Holiwise into the leading AI-powered travel platform for premium customers.

We’re focused on sustainable growth, creating a world-class product and building a loyal customer base. Success could lead to a strategic acquisition, IPO or staying private with brand leadership in premium travel.