Zerolook, a Switzerland-based startup that predicts flight prices, has raised US$1.9 million in pre-seed funding led by Playfair, with participation from Vento Ventures, TrueSight Ventures, Alpha Ventures and several angel investors. Its machine learning model predicts flight prices and itineraries, aiming to cut the volume of searches hitting airline systems.

Recent OAG figures show up to 20,000 searches generate one ticket sale, a number that could climb to 200,000 as agentic artificial intelligence (AI) increases search volume. Zerolook's model presents users with a predicted itinerary, price and confidence score.

In the PhocusWire Studio, CEO Simone Lini discussed plans to compute prices differently than the fare-filing process used for six decades, along with the startup climate and AI's impact on distribution.

Zerolook, a Switzerland-based startup that predicts flight prices, has raised US$1.9 million in pre-seed funding led by Playfair, with participation from Vento Ventures, TrueSight Ventures, Alpha Ventures and several angel investors. Its machine learning model predicts flight prices and itineraries, aiming to cut the volume of searches hitting airline systems.
Recent OAG figures show up to 20,000 searches generate one ticket sale, a number that could climb to 200,000 as agentic artificial intelligence (AI) increases search volume. Zerolook's model presents users with a predicted itinerary, price and confidence score.
In the PhocusWire Studio, CEO Simone Lini discussed plans to compute prices differently than the fare-filing process used for six decades, along with the startup climate and AI's impact on distribution.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus is a regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus

Flight-pricing startup Zerolook raised US$1.9 million in pre-seed funding, and CEO Simone Lini joined the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2026 to discuss how machine learning could cut search costs for airlines and agencies.

Navigating AI developments as a startup with Zerolook

After 20 years in institutional trading, Natasha Martsekis left banking to follow her passion for hospitality. In 2014 she founded Bright Blue Villas, a luxury villa rental company built on the principles she learned on the trading floor: trust, accountability and treating owners as strategic partners.

In this conversation recorded in the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2026, Martsekis explains why that institutional approach paid off and why she wishes she had grown the portfolio faster early on. Bright Blue Villas now manages 325 villas across 20 destinations in Greece, and she sees room to scale as exceptional new properties go up on the smaller islands.

She also shares where AI fits in luxury travel. In her view it supports the human touch rather than replacing it, with the biggest gains in pre-booking, pre-arrival and repeat stays. Martsekis discusses operational challenges, destination evolution and the role of the experience concierge.

After 20 years in institutional trading, Natasha Martsekis left banking to follow her passion for hospitality. In 2014 she founded Bright Blue Villas, a luxury villa rental company built on the principles she learned on the trading floor: trust, accountability and treating owners as strategic partners.
In this conversation recorded in the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2026, Martsekis explains why that institutional approach paid off and why she wishes she had grown the portfolio faster early on. Bright Blue Villas now manages 325 villas across 20 destinations in Greece, and she sees room to scale as exceptional new properties go up on the smaller islands.
She also shares where AI fits in luxury travel. In her view it supports the human touch rather than replacing it, with the biggest gains in pre-booking, pre-arrival and repeat stays. Martsekis discusses operational challenges, destination evolution and the role of the experience concierge.

Former institutional trader Natasha Martsekis explains how a banker's focus on trust and accountability built Bright Blue Villas into a 325-villa luxury portfolio across Greece and where AI fits into the guest experience.

From banker to luxury villa specialist with Natasha Martsekis of Bright Blue Villas

Perk (formerly TravelPerk) has launched an MCP connector linking Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants directly to its travel and spend management platform. Chief product officer Nikita Miller frames it around killing "shadow work," the time employees waste digging through reports and switching tools for basic answers. The connector lets travelers pull trip and expense details, finance teams access invoices, travel managers review approvals and policy rules, and event managers check sessions and attendee data, all through natural language.

Speaking in the PhocusWire Studio, Miller said the goal spans from individual spend all the way to CFO-level reporting at month's end. Perk plans to expand the connector this summer to cover booking, expense submission, receipt uploads and approval flows, a further push into agentic travel management.

Perk (formerly TravelPerk) has launched an MCP connector linking Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants directly to its travel and spend management platform. Chief product officer Nikita Miller frames it around killing "shadow work," the time employees waste digging through reports and switching tools for basic answers. The connector lets travelers pull trip and expense details, finance teams access invoices, travel managers review approvals and policy rules, and event managers check sessions and attendee data, all through natural language.
Speaking in the PhocusWire Studio, Miller said the goal spans from individual spend all the way to CFO-level reporting at month's end. Perk plans to expand the connector this summer to cover booking, expense submission, receipt uploads and approval flows, a further push into agentic travel management.

Perk has launched an MCP connector linking AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT to its travel and spend platform, letting users pull trip data, expenses and approvals through natural language.

AI in action in corporate travel with Perk

Q2 2026 was quiet for travel startup funding but busy for M&A. Only two Series B rounds stood out: hotel tech company Smartness raised €47 million, and India-based hostel operator The Hosteller raised $16 million. WeRoad closed the quarter's lone Series C, $58 million led by Airbnb. Clarasight raised an $11.5 million Series A for product development and geographic expansion. Phocuswright's Travel Startups Interactive database shows $1.7 billion in funding for the year's first five months, up from $1.1 billion in 2025.

M&A carried the quarter. Expedia Group's acquisition of CarTrawler stood out, aimed at building a one-stop shop for B2B travel. Juniper acquired Deem, and Lighthouse acquired Hotelrank.ai. Bigger deals included Long Lake Management's $6.3 billion purchase of American Express Global Business Travel and Apollo Global Management's agreed $5.7 billion takeover of easyJet.

Speaking in the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2026, Cambon Partners' Morgann Lesné told Linda Fox that deal volumes from 2022-2023 haven't returned, but consolidation pressure is building as small players run out of runway.

Q2 2026 was quiet for travel startup funding but busy for M&amp;A. Only two Series B rounds stood out: hotel tech company Smartness raised &euro;47 million, and India-based hostel operator The Hosteller raised $16 million. WeRoad closed the quarter's lone Series C, $58 million led by Airbnb. Clarasight raised an $11.5 million Series A for product development and geographic expansion. Phocuswright's Travel Startups Interactive database shows $1.7 billion in funding for the year's first five months, up from $1.1 billion in 2025.
M&amp;A carried the quarter. Expedia Group's acquisition of CarTrawler stood out, aimed at building a one-stop shop for B2B travel. Juniper acquired Deem, and Lighthouse acquired Hotelrank.ai. Bigger deals included Long Lake Management's $6.3 billion purchase of American Express Global Business Travel and Apollo Global Management's agreed $5.7 billion takeover of easyJet.
Speaking in the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2026, Cambon Partners' Morgann Lesn&eacute; told Linda Fox that deal volumes from 2022-2023 haven't returned, but consolidation pressure is building as small players run out of runway.

Travel startup funding stayed muted in Q2 2026, with Smartness, The Hosteller, WeRoad and Clarasight landing the notable rounds, while M&A dominated headlines through Expedia's CarTrawler deal, Long Lake's $6.3 billion Amex GBT purchase and Apollo's $5.7 billion easyJet takeover.

Navigating AI developments as a startup with Zerolook

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