Pickyourtrail Gets 3 Mn Series A Funding

India’s only travel tech startup that helps travellers plan multi-country vacations online Pickyourtrail received close to $3mn in Series A funding. Led by Kumar Vembu and Shyam Sekhar and joined by Rajagopal Subramanian and Girish Mathrubootham, using Pickyourtrail travellers can plan, view real time prices and instantly book vacations to over 200+ cities across the globe - completely online!

This capital infusion will be used for continued product innovation, scaling up the proprietary technology platform, expansion of its technical team and creating brand awareness.

Founded by Hari Ganapathy and Srinath Shankar, Pickyourtrail has over 10,000 travellers who have planned trips to 200+ cities using Pickyourtrail’s self-service platform. Pickyourtrail’s proprietary comfort score algorithm takes into account over 40 factors like duration, travel time, ratings etc to build personalised itineraries that travellers can further customise & book. Post booking, travellers use Pickyourtrail’s app to not just keep track of bookings, but also get real time information on flight and weather updates, restaurant recommendations and on-trip chat support.

Commenting on the funding, Hari Ganapathy, Co-Founder of Pickyourtrail said,“What's most exciting is the shift we are seeing in consumer behaviour. People are slowly getting comfortable booking vacations online. With our unflinching focus on customer happiness and vast experience the new investors bring in, we believe we have a real shot at changing the way people plan and book vacations over the next few years.”

Srinath Shankar, Co-Founder of Pickyourtrail said, “Personalisation is a mantra that's been around in travel. I believe that our algorithms across personalisation, routing and price matching are industry first in their approach and output. Our end goal is to make Pickyourtrail synonymous with customized international vacations and this round is a great stepping stone in that direction.

Kumar Vembu, CEO, GoFrugal,“Pickyourtrail is one of the most interesting brands that I have personally come across in recent times. There is a massive opportunity in the experience economy and am excited to be partnering with them in creating a global vacation planning product”

Girish Mathrubootham, Founder & Chief Executive Officer Freshworks, “Pickyourtrail is redefining international vacations making holidays completely stress free, personalized and enjoyable - the way a perfect holiday should be. I saw many of our employees raving about PYT and that's when I decided to back this great team”

Shyam Sekhar, Ideator and Founder, iThought, “Rarely does a business meet three criterias- creating customer delight, fulfilling tangible aspirations and a huge runway to achieving scale. The brand conveys experience, excitement and individuality. It connects with millennial aspiration to be unique in how we want to see the world.”

Rajagopal Subramanian, CIO, Entrust, “The agility, energy and culture of team Pickyourtrail and their customer-centric approach to disrupting the international travel market are what makes them a compelling story to invest”