Planning a trip just got a lot easier — thanks to two engineers who used to work at Meta.
If you’ve ever tried planning a multi-city trip and felt overwhelmed juggling flights, hotels, sightseeing, and restaurant bookings, you’re not alone. That’s exactly what Archit Karandikar and Sanjeev Shenoy thought — and they decided to do something about it.
They built Airial, a smart, AI-powered travel planner that takes the hassle out of organizing your travel plans. Whether you’re heading to one city or five, Airial can help build a trip that fits your style, schedule, and preferences — all in just a few clicks.
How Airial Works
At its core, Airial is like having a personal travel agent — but one that works instantly and never sleeps.
You start by typing in a few basic details about your trip: where you want to go, when, and what kind of experience you’re looking for. That’s it. Airial does the rest.
It pulls together your flights, hotels, local transport, sightseeing, and meals into one clean, interactive itinerary. If you’re in a hurry, there’s even a “Quick Trip” mode that creates your plan automatically.
Once your trip is built, you can:
- View your entire itinerary by day
- See suggested places to visit and eat
- Get info, photos, reviews, and even alternatives for each stop
- Customize and tweak the plan as much as you like
You’ll even see a map of your day’s route, including travel times, transfer points, and nearby spots worth checking out.
What Makes Airial Different?
There are plenty of travel tools that help you “plan” a trip. But most of them stop at giving you rough suggestions. Airial goes several steps further.
It figures out:
- How long it takes to get from one place to another
- The distance between your hotel and key attractions
- The best restaurants nearby (based on dietary needs too)
- Whether you can fit in a day trip nearby
And if you’re vegetarian, for example, Airial will filter out places that don’t match — without you having to dig through dozens of menus.
Even better? If you saw a cool travel video on TikTok or Instagram, just paste the link into Airial. It’ll pull out the spots featured and add them directly into your itinerary.
“It’s like working with a travel agent who actually knows your taste,” said co-founder Archit Karandikar.
Built by Travel Lovers With AI Brains
Archit and Sanjeev aren’t just any founders. They met in college in India and went on to work at places like Meta, Google, and Waymo. Their background is deep in AI and product design.
They always loved traveling, and after struggling with planning their own trips, they knew the tech world could do better. So they built Airial to help people enjoy the fun parts of travel — and skip the stressful ones.
To power the tool, they trained their models using methods from DeepMind’s AlphaGeometry, a system that helps solve complex logic puzzles. That same problem-solving engine now helps Airial juggle hundreds of travel-related decisions for each trip.
Who’s Investing in Airial?
Airial recently raised $3 million in seed funding to take things to the next level. The round was led by Montage Ventures, with support from:
- South Park Commons
- Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India)
- Angel investors from Meta, Dropbox, and UiPath
Investors say the real edge is the team’s ability to blend AI with real-life travel challenges.
“Most tools just scratch the surface. Airial can handle thousands of variables to build trips that actually work,” said Daphne Che from Montage Ventures.
Airial Is Already Picking Up Steam
Even though it’s still early days, Airial is already seeing tens of thousands of people using the platform every month. And instead of charging users right away, the team is focused on growing their user base first.
Recent updates include:
- Trip sharing: Let friends view and help plan your trip
- Collaborative planning: Plan together in real time
- More transport options: Now supports buses and rental cars
- Social features: You can explore a friend’s trip and borrow parts of it
What’s Coming Next?
The team behind Airial isn’t slowing down. Here’s what they’re working on next:
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android
- Smarter search for hotels, things to do, and creator recommendations
- More fine-tuned suggestions based on budget, mood, or accessibility
They’re aiming to make Airial the go-to app for anyone planning a trip — whether it’s your first vacation abroad or a weekend getaway.
Final Thoughts
Travel planning doesn’t need to take hours of research or 50 open tabs. Airial offers a simpler, smarter way to get everything sorted in one place — with a personal touch.
So the next time you’re thinking about your dream trip, give Airial a try.
Let the AI handle the planning, so you can focus on making memories.