Wednesday, December 11, 2019

XOKind Finds $1.6M For AI Travel Agents

San Diego-based XOKind, a new startup focused on building artificial intelligence software for the travel market, has raised $1.6M in a seed funding round, and emerged from stealth mode, the company said today. According to XOKind, its funding round was led by Section 32, and alos included angels Adam D'Angelo, Amir Khosrowshahi, Andreas Quandt, Bob Gunderson, Ishan Mukherjee, Naveen Rao and The Operator Network (Avid Larizadeh Duggan, Chuck Dietrich, Frederic Kerrest and Jacques Kerrest). The startup said it is developing AI agents which will learn users' travel preferences via their calendars, emails, and photos, as well as their social media and in-app interactions. The startup is led by CEO Arjun Bansal, who previously co-founded Nervana Systems, with co-founders Yinyin Liu (Nervana/Intel), Scott Leishman (Nervana/Intel), and Sarah Harris (Apple). Nervana Systems was acquired in 2016 by Intel. The startup said it will launch its first product in the travel and leisure area next year. Section 32 is the venture capital fund led by former Google Ventures CEO and founder Bill Maris, which is also based in San Diego. More information »