Booking Holdings launches AI travel startup Vayo with planned $100 million investment

A new Seattle-based travel startup

Booking Holdings, parent of Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak and OpenTable, has launched Vayo, a Seattle-based startup that uses AI agents to plan and manage trips. The company plans to invest $100 million in the venture, subject to continued advancement of the product and market conditions, according to a footnote in its news release.

Led by serial entrepreneur Mike Fridgen, Vayo opened a waitlist for a free private beta on Wednesday. The startup pitches itself as a personal travel agent built for trips rather than tasks, betting it can outplan general-purpose assistants from companies such as OpenAI and Meta. Fridgen said the team is out to build the leading consumer experience in travel.

How the service works

Vayo's AI agents connect to a user's inbox to pull in flight, hotel and restaurant confirmations, reading only travel-related emails. They monitor bookings for price drops, openings at sold-out hotels and other changes. If a flight is delayed, Vayo flags what that means for hotel check-in or dinner reservations, and it recommends restaurants and activities based on past trips.

Users can currently make restaurant reservations, with flight and hotel booking expected in the next few weeks. Vayo runs multiple AI agents at once, using different models for different tasks, and has built its own system on top of off-the-shelf models. CTO Allen Chen said the company will probably need its own custom models for some tasks soon. The service also watches for price drops on flights and captures the difference as a credit when a fare falls.

The team and the bet

Fridgen previously led Madrona Venture Labs and was CEO of Decide.com, the price-prediction startup acquired by eBay. Chen was previously CTO of Fanatics Collectibles and a partner in Boston Consulting Group's AI practice. Head of growth Ian Fliflet was formerly chief growth officer at OfferUp. Vayo has about 20 employees, all working in person in downtown Seattle, and has been building the product for about six months.

For Booking Holdings, the venture marks a return to Seattle, home to its biggest rival, Expedia Group. The company is also backing Lola, a separate AI startup from Kayak co-founders Steve Hafner and Paul English that launched last month. Fridgen described the strategy as a portfolio approach, with Lola focused on everyday experiences and Vayo concentrated on travel scenarios.

Competition in a crowded field

Vayo is entering a crowded market of AI travel apps, but Fridgen sees general-purpose personal AI agents, such as Meta's Muse and San Francisco startup Instinct, as its main competitors. Some agents have run into resistance: Amazon blocked Meta's Muse from its store last month, and Resy locked out a user whose Instinct agent repeatedly pinged the site for a table.

Vayo is instead relying on APIs and direct partnerships with travel companies. It connects with Booking Holdings brands including Booking.com, Kayak and OpenTable, and has signed a partnership with ticketing platform SeatGeek. Fridgen said the startup wants to work with companies across the industry, not just Booking Holdings brands, and is open to a relationship with Expedia, which it does not currently have. Vayo is free during its private beta, and the company has not settled on a business model, with a subscription and traditional commissions on bookings among the possibilities.

Sources: Geekwire