Stokes-backed travel platform Unravel takes off with £5m funding
An online travel content platform backed by a fund which counts the England Test cricket captain Ben Stokes among its investors will this week unveil a $7m (£5.4m) funding injection.
Sky News understands that Unravel, which combines TikTok-style video content with an artificial intelligence-powered booking assistant to enhance users' experience, will announce the Series A round on Thursday.
Led by Nauta, a European business-to-business software investor, it includes participation from Slingshot Ventures, which is partly financed by Kees Koolen, the former chairman and CEO of Booking.com.
Unravel partners with travel influencers to identify distinctive overseas experiences, and says it facilitates transactions within banking apps, airline loyalty programmes and digital marketplaces.
"The way people discover travel has changed," Vijay Anand, CEO and co-founder of Unravel, said.
"They don't sift through endless search results--they get inspired by creators who are exploring the world and sharing their experiences.
"Unravel bridges that gap, turning creator-shot videos into seamless, AI-powered booking experiences."
Other investors in the round include Antler, Brook Bay Capital and The Players Fund, whose other backers include the Indian cricketer KL Rahul and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, the British Olympic heptathlon champion.
OIivier Bisserier, another senior former Booking.com executive, is also investing in Unravel, according to the company.
"The rise of TikTok has had a massive influence on the way people experience content on mobile," said Carles Ferrer, a general partner at Nauta.
"That change has happened in parallel with banks, insurers and telcos adding travel to their list of perks or products offered to customers.
"Unravel has combined both of these market changes, with the addition of an AI booking assistant, to produce an incredibly popular white-label solution for customers looking to add new revenue streams."
The company said the new capital would be used to enhance its AI capabilities to optimize video-commerce conversions and expand its London-based workforce.
Nauta's investment portfolio has included companies such as Brandwatch, Techspert and AppFollow.
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