Startup Stage: Tickadoo wants to reinvent how travelers discover experiences

Tickadoo

Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Tickadoo considers travelers' preferences, wants and needs and offers "curated, bookable experiences." 

Founded in 2023, Tickadoo is also launching a subscription program, Tickadoo+, giving members exclusive access and eliminating booking fees.

What is your 30-second pitch to investors?

Tickadoo is solving the paradox of modern travel: We have infinite options but terrible decision-making. Instead of drowning users in search results, we built an agentic AI that actually understands intent. You ask, "What do you wanna doo?" and get curated, bookable experiences in seconds—not hours of research.  

We're live in 500+ cities with real revenue, backed by a team that's already moved over $1 billion in travel bookings. This isn't just another OTA with AI bolted on—it's the spontaneous experience layer the industry has been waiting for.

Describe both the business and technology aspects of your startup.

The tech stack has three core pieces: our proprietary agentic AI engine that learns user preferences and intent patterns, deep integrations with live inventory from global experience providers and a discovery interface designed around spontaneity rather than endless filtering.

What makes this different is that our AI doesn't just recommend—it acts. It learns that you hate touristy stuff but love hidden speakeasies, that you prefer afternoon activities when you're jet-lagged, that you always regret not booking the slightly more expensive option. Then it uses that intelligence proactively.

Business-wise, we're commission-driven on bookings, with a Tickadoo+ subscription launching soon, offering exclusive access and zero booking fees. The model works because we're driving higher-value, last-minute bookings for our supply partners while solving genuine friction for consumers.

Give us your SWOT analysis.

• Strengths: We're post-revenue with a seasoned team that's been through this before. Our AI is purpose-built for travel discovery, not adapted from other verticals. The brand resonates: "What do you wanna doo?" sticks in people's heads. And we're already live with substantial inventory depth.
• Weaknesses: Consumer awareness is still early-stage, and the mobile app isn't launched yet (though that changes in Q4). We're also still educating the market on what agentic AI actually means.
• Opportunities: The AI-native travel space is wide open. Nobody has cracked mood-based, spontaneous discovery at scale. There's huge potential in affiliate partnerships, B2B licensing and creator collaborations. Plus, the post-pandemic travel mindset is perfect for what we're building.
• Threats: The big players are moving fast to add AI features, and consumer expectations around AI accuracy are still forming. We need to stay ahead on both innovation and trust-building.

What are the travel pain points you're trying to alleviate?

For travelers, it's decision fatigue disguised as choice. People spend hours researching trips, open 30+ tabs, read conflicting reviews and still end up unsure. The spontaneous "let's do something fun today" experience has been completely lost to analysis paralysis.

For the industry, it's visibility and conversion. Amazing local experiences get buried under generic search results. Perishable inventory goes unsold because discovery happens too late. Personalization exists in theory but fails in practice because most platforms don't actually understand individual intent.

We're essentially rebuilding the discovery layer to be emotional and intelligent rather than mechanical and overwhelming.

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

Our growth strategy combines organic momentum with smart partnerships. The SEO play is strong—we've got rich, experience-focused content that people actually want to read. Social performs well because our brand is inherently shareable.

But the real acceleration comes through affiliates: hotels recommending local experiences to guests, airlines suggesting destination activities, creators sharing curated city guides. We're also building referral incentives into Tickadoo+ that make word-of-mouth scalable.

The brand itself is designed to be viral. "What do you wanna doo?" is memorable, fun and solves a daily question for millions of people.

Tell us what process you've gone through to establish genuine need and market size.

Before writing a single line of code, we interviewed 100+ travelers about their booking frustrations. The patterns were clear: information overload, lack of relevance, fragmented booking journeys and zero spontaneity in the discovery process.

We also studied the numbers. Experience bookings represent a $250 billion global market that's growing faster than accommodations or flights. But the discovery layer is still stuck in 2010—keyword search and static categories. There's a massive opportunity for an AI-first approach that actually understands context and intent.

Our early metrics validate this. Users who engage with our AI recommendations convert at 3x the rate of traditional browse-and-search behavior.

How and when will you make money?

We already are. Every booking through our platform generates commission revenue, and our conversion rates are strong because we're surfacing highly relevant, time-sensitive experiences.

Tickadoo+ launches soon as our subscription tier—exclusive access, zero booking fees, personalized concierge features. Longer-term, we see API licensing opportunities, brand partnerships and potentially white-label solutions for other travel companies.

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

I co-founded and ran London Theatre Direct, which became one of the U.K.’s leading ticketing platforms with over $1 billion in sales. Before that, I built Audiama around immersive storytelling and location-based experiences.

Our broader team brings experience from Amazon, Google and major OTAs. We understand both the infrastructure challenges and the consumer psychology of travel booking. Crucially, we've been through the scaling journey before—we know what works and what doesn't.

How have you addressed diversity and inclusion within your business?

Diversity feels natural at Tickadoo rather than forced. Our team spans four continents with senior women in key roles and leadership that reflects different backgrounds, including our gay founder (me!)

We’re live in 50 languages selling across all continents—that only works when your team reflects that global reality.

This shows up in our product too. Our AI surfaces local culture and supports smaller, often minority-owned businesses that get buried under generic search algorithms. When you’re building something truly global, diversity isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s essential for success.

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

Honestly? Staying focused. When you're building AI for travel, the opportunities feel infinite. We could tackle flights, hotels, restaurants, events—everything. The discipline has been staying laser-focused on our core wedge: agentic experience discovery. The other challenge is setting proper expectations around AI. People either expect magic or assume it's all hype. Building trust while maintaining the element of surprise has required careful calibration.

Why are you going to be one of the lucky ones?

Because we're not trying to be everything to everyone. We're building the emotional layer between travelers and experiences—that's it. We have real revenue, proven team experience and a differentiated product that people actually enjoy using.

Most travel startups fail because they're fighting established players on their own turf. We're creating new turf. The shift toward AI-native interfaces is inevitable, and we're positioned to lead it rather than react to it.

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

• Mobile app fully launched with hundreds of thousands of active users across 750+ cities
• Tickadoo+ subscription growing rapidly 
• Deep partnerships with major hotel chains and airlines for affiliate discovery 
• Probably some interesting acquisition conversations, though growth remains the primary focus

Most importantly, we'll have proven that spontaneous, AI-driven travel discovery isn't just a nice-to-have—it's the future of how people find and book experiences.  

What is your endgame?

We're building a lasting consumer brand with serious technology underneath. If the right strategic partner emerges who can accelerate our vision, we're open to those conversations. But the focus is on creating something genuinely valuable and enduring.

The travel industry needs more companies that put consumer delight first and figure out the business model second. That's what we're building.