€200,000 funding raise just the ticket for Dublin’s TripAdmit

5 Nov 2020

From left: TripAdmit founders John Maguire and Andrew Kelly. Image: TripAdmit

Despite the impacts of Covid-19 on the tourism and hospitality sector, TripAdmit is being backed as a high-potential start-up by Enterprise Ireland.

Dublin start-up TripAdmit is set to expand after raising a further €200,000 in seed funding. The company has now raised a total of €500,000 in seed funding from Irish and international investors, including backing from Enterprise Ireland’s high-potential start-up (HPSU) unit.

TripAdmit works with tour and activity providers to sell tickets and help them partner with airlines, travel agents, hotels and campsites. Its booking software and AI technology aims to personalise the experience and increase online sales. It also provides real-time availability information on top international attractions.

Speaking to Siliconrepublic.com last year, TripAdmit co-founder and CEO John Maguire said that the company’s API connections provide access to “over 50,000 experiences” around the world.

Before setting up TripAdmit in 2019, Maguire had worked for Ticketmaster, Aer Lingus and O2, and held senior roles in the experience industry with positions at Smartbox and City Wonders. His co-founder Andrew Kelly, who is TripAdmit’s CTO, had worked in artificial intelligence and cognitive science.

TripAdmit on track despite travel restrictions

TripAdmit has been gaining traction despite the impact of the pandemic and travel restrictions on the tourism sector. It raised €300,000 in seed funding in June 2020. Along with the fresh backing, this will help the business expand its platform, products and marketing.

“Securing such a significant amount of investment in the middle of a pandemic has been challenging, but the response from our investors has been amazing,” Maguire said.

“This announcement is a testament to the team here who have developed our powerful booking software and the potential of this business when tours and activities reopen around the world.”

Niall McEvoy, ICT department manager for HPSUs at Enterprise Ireland, added: “During 2020, the company made excellent progress against key milestones. Having now successfully raised this seed round, it will facilitate accelerated technical and commercial roll-out in 2021.”

Lisa Ardill was careers editor at Silicon Republic until June 2021

editorial@siliconrepublic.com