Utrip, a Seattle-based trip-planning startup announced that it is ceasing operations. The startup was founded in 2011, and aimed to offer free AI based itinerary-planning tools to consumers. Users could enter information about their travel and activity preferences and Utrip would recommend schddules to plan their trip.

Utrip made money by licensing its software and building products for businesses in the hospitality space, such as hotels and cruise lines. According to Utrip, its business model leveraging Machine Learning based techniques, was trying to 

Utrip is a data-driven personalization platform and A.I. recommendation engine built specifically for the travel industry. We combine the best of local expertise, human experience and artificial intelligence to make the customer experience easy, enjoyable and personal. Leveraging machine learning and advanced traveler preference data, Utrip enables travel companies, both large and small, to increase conversion rates, ancillary revenue, customer loyalty and engagement.

Whether through our white label solution, API recommendation engine or data enrichment, Utrip’s technology optimizes your digital experience based on customer preferences, budget, geography and many other relevant factors, sorting through millions of options in seconds. At Utrip, we’re empowering our partners to reimagine their customer relationships through every step of the travel lifecycle.

 

 

An email from Utrip CEO Gilad Berenstein published in GeekWire quoted him saying “We are devastated to no longer be able to continue to operate and partner with you,” Utrip’s services will remain online until June 7, at which point the servers will come down, according to the email.

The company’s Linkedin profile indicated that about 25 employees worked at Utrip . The company raised about US$ 4M in the last round of Series A funding in Feb 2017. According to GeekWire , Utrip had to case operations after a deal that would’ve kept the company afloat fell through at the last minute.