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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leader Live
15 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Palace co-owner John Textor would sell shares for Europa League chance
The American, whose Eagle Football Group owns 43 per cent of Palace, has imperilled the club's chance of a first-ever European campaign owing to his involvement with Ligue 1 side Lyon, but is ready to offload his stake to his fellow co-owners in order to bring the saga to an end. UEFA does not allow clubs with the same ownership to compete in the same European competitions in a season. As well as his stake in Palace, the 59-year-old has a controlling stake in the French club, also via Eagle Football. However it is also reported that the European governing body does not consider Textor's influence at Selhurst Park to be decisive and is leaning towards allowing the club into the Europa League regardless. The PA news agency understands no formal decision is likely on Palace's fate until the end of June. Textor has previously spoken of his frustration at how little influence his stake entitles him to, over football matters. Victory for Oliver Glasner's side over Manchester City in last month's FA Cup final gave them their first major trophy and with it a first crack at Europe. However, Nottingham Forest have since written to UEFA to challenge Palace's Europa League spot and in the hope of taking their place. Forest's owner Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Greek side Olympiacos, placed his shares in the club in a blind trust before the governing body's March 1 deadline, anticipating Nuno Espirito Santo's side's European qualification. At present Forest, who finished seventh in last season's Premier League, are set to enter the Conference League but would take Palace's Europa League place, should they be deemed ineligible.
Press and Journal
24 minutes ago
- Press and Journal
Scotbeef shuts historic Inverurie abattoir
Meat processor Scotbeef has shut its historic abattoir in Inverurie. The owners have cited 'sustained challenges' to the business. They said the closure was necessary to protect the long-term future of Scotbeef. Staff were reportedly told to go home today, with farmers being told their livestock was no longer required. Scotbeef is a subsidiary of East Kilbride-based JW Galloway. Its processing sites manufacture fresh beef, lamb and value-added products for leading UK and international retail markets. Scotbeef also has facilities at two other Scottish locations – East Kilbride and Annan – as well as operations south of the border in Sheffield, Heysham and Wolverhampton. Other sites in Bridge of Allan and Glasgow have been sold by the firm in recent years. It is not known yet how many staff are impacted by the closure in Inverurie, where there has been an abattoir on North Street for about 100 years. Neither Scotbeef nor JW Galloway have responded to our calls. The move follows a steep decline in processing activity at the Aberdeenshire site. In recent times just a few hundred cattle have been processed there some weeks, a fraction of the total capacity. Industry insiders have blamed a price war between processors for putting Scottish abattoirs under severe pressure. In accounts lodged at Companies House earlier this year, Scotbeef said it was facing labour shortages and industry pay rate challenges. Plans for a replacement abattoir in the area have been on hold for years. In 2023, Aberdeenshire councillors backed plans to demolish the existing abattoir to make way for 50 new homes. A previous proposal to build 77 homes on the site was given the go-ahead back in 2019. Now, closure for the existing site would appear to scupper any prospect of the abattoir being relocated to ANM Group's Thainstone Business Park, as was previously proposed. Gordon and Buchan Conservative MP Harriet Cross said: 'This closure is deeply concerning and is a blow to livestock farmers across the north-east. Abattoirs such as that in Inverurie are crucial to the food supply chain and the wider agricultural sector. 'But across the country, they are being driven out of business at an alarming rate by rising costs, regulatory pressures and a drop in livestock numbers. 'There is also an immediate human impact of all this, and my thoughts go out to the employees at Inverurie whose jobs are at risk.' The MP added: 'If both of Scotland's governments are serious about sustainability, rural jobs, and animal welfare, then more support needs to be given to abattoirs so they can survive these unprecedented challenges.'
South Wales Guardian
30 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Palace co-owner John Textor would sell shares for Europa League chance
The American, whose Eagle Football Group owns 43 per cent of Palace, has imperilled the club's chance of a first-ever European campaign owing to his involvement with Ligue 1 side Lyon, but is ready to offload his stake to his fellow co-owners in order to bring the saga to an end. UEFA does not allow clubs with the same ownership to compete in the same European competitions in a season. As well as his stake in Palace, the 59-year-old has a controlling stake in the French club, also via Eagle Football. However it is also reported that the European governing body does not consider Textor's influence at Selhurst Park to be decisive and is leaning towards allowing the club into the Europa League regardless. The PA news agency understands no formal decision is likely on Palace's fate until the end of June. Textor has previously spoken of his frustration at how little influence his stake entitles him to, over football matters. Victory for Oliver Glasner's side over Manchester City in last month's FA Cup final gave them their first major trophy and with it a first crack at Europe. However, Nottingham Forest have since written to UEFA to challenge Palace's Europa League spot and in the hope of taking their place. Forest's owner Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Greek side Olympiacos, placed his shares in the club in a blind trust before the governing body's March 1 deadline, anticipating Nuno Espirito Santo's side's European qualification. At present Forest, who finished seventh in last season's Premier League, are set to enter the Conference League but would take Palace's Europa League place, should they be deemed ineligible.
