The Future of Travel is Personal, Immersive, and Intelligent: Announcing Tailbox’s $1.5M Seed Round

Bayazid Malikov
4 min readSep 12, 2023

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From strolling through the streets of Boston to discovering the hidden gems of a city yet unexplored, the world is bursting with stories that often go unnoticed. Founded in the heart of MIT by Bayazid Malikov and Eduardo Schuch, Tailbox is the embodiment of our mission to revolutionize how you interact with the world. Following a transformative summer at MIT’s renowned delta v Accelerator, where we honed our technology and solidified our business model, we have successfully secured $1.5 million in seed funding. This investment round is led by Link Ventures, a firm well-aligned with our vision and committed to fostering groundbreaking innovations.

The travel industry has been abuzz with how Generative AI is transforming the way people explore the world. A recent interview with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky highlighted the significant role of AI in shaping the future of travel and hospitality. We at Tailbox are on a mission to make this future a reality. We’re not just building an app; we are crafting immersive, tailored experiences that will redefine the very essence of travel and exploration.

Tailbox with Dave Blundin

The Urgent Problem: Fragmented and Impersonal Journeys

People today spend a staggering amount of money on travel, yet the experience remains fragmented and impersonal. The digital maze of booking sites, navigation apps, review platforms, and informational resources leaves travelers overwhelmed. Instead of enjoying a cohesive, enriching experience, many end up skimming the surface, missing the authentic stories, architectural wonders, and cultural nuances that make each destination unique.

A Unified, Intelligent Solution: Tailbox’s Vision

At Tailbox, we’re pioneering the next wave of travel experiences. With our AI-powered guide, we’re transforming ordinary trips into extraordinary journeys. Tailbox addresses this pain point by providing a unified, AI-driven platform. The company aims to enrich each travel experience by uncovering less-known sites, instilling a spirit of discovery and curiosity, and connecting travelers on a deeper level to the places they visit.

Tailbox uses Generative AI to craft personalized travel stories based on your interests, whether it’s history, food, architecture, or folklore. The ultimate goal is to make the whole world an interesting, interactive place to explore, and change the way people experience cities and cultures.

MIT Accelerator delta v ’23 cohort

Discovering Hidden Gems: A Granular Approach

The future of travel is not just about reaching a destination; it’s about immersing oneself in the environment, about the hidden alleys, the overlooked monuments, and the untold stories that make each place unique. Our vision is to bring these stories to the forefront, allowing travelers to not just see a place, but to hear its tales, understand its history, and feel its emotions. Through partnerships with local agencies, we continually enrich our database to include these lesser-known treasures, ensuring a travel experience that’s as authentic as it is personalized.

As the world evolves, so do the ways we explore it.

Making Travel Intelligent: The Role of Generative AI

AI is the cornerstone of Tailbox’s innovation. Just like Airbnb is focusing on AI for personalization, we invest in Generative AI to create deeply personalized experiences. At Tailbox, we believe in the power of freedom — the freedom to explore, to adapt, change course based on a newfound interest or a local’s recommendation. The future of travel isn’t about following a set itinerary; it’s about crafting your own journey, pivoting as you go. The future is deeply personal. It’s about understanding that each traveler is unique, with their own curiosities and passions. It’s about offering the tools to craft journeys that resonate on a personal level, ensuring that every trip is not just about visiting a place, but about forming a lasting bond with it. Imagine walking through Rome and receiving a real-time, AI-generated narrative about the Colosseum tailored specifically to your interest in ancient history, while someone else might get a story focusing on the architectural marvels of the same monument. AI, especially advanced large language models, holds the key to unlocking them. By processing and understanding vast amounts of information, AI can bring forth the hidden stories, nuances, and cultural insights in a personal level on every corner of the globe.

Tailbox: The Unified Solution

This is precisely the gap that Tailbox aims to fill. We are going beyond the logistical aspects of travel to focus on what truly enriches an exploration experience — knowledge, emotional connection, and personalized storytelling. Our proprietary Generative AI technology serves as your intelligent travel companion, offering a unified platform that not only guides you to your points of interest but also educates and engages you with immersive stories tailored to your specific tastes.

Tailbox with Stephen Kaufer — Co-founder of Tripadvisor

The Future is Happening Now

In a world where travel has been commoditized, Tailbox is bringing back the magic of personalized, enriching experiences. We believe that the future of travel is not only about ‘where’ and ‘when,’ but also about ‘who you are’ and ‘what you want.’ We invite you to join us on this thrilling journey as we make the future of travel a reality today.

We are actively looking for talented individuals who share our vision. Together, let’s unlock the hidden gems of your next travel destination.

Tailbox Team

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Bayazid Malikov
Bayazid Malikov

Written by Bayazid Malikov

MBA'23 at MIT Sloan | Entrepreneur

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