How This Early-Stage AI Venture in Hospitality Raised $250000 Hospitality startup Trilyo works with hotels and restaurants in helping them solve customer queries through AI.
By Rahul R
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Venture Capital funding today has undoubtedly grown beyond the core technology services and startups that actually offer these services. A key illustration of this fact is relatively new hospitality startup Trilyo, founded in 2015, raised capital amounting to $250000 from leading investors Pulse Venture Capital. The USP of this development is the fact that the industry which Trilyo attempts to serve is hospitality and that is tad unconventional. Problems addressed by Trilyo include the all-important customer engagement that is a must for today's hotels.
Trilyo- Developing the Solutions
Trilyo was founded in Bengaluru in 2015 by Abhishek Moharana and Gaurav Gambhir. The founders came up with an idea of having a customized butler assigned to each room in a hotel. At this point in time, it is worth noting that Trilyo's solutions are B2B working with hotels and restaurants that make up a chunk of the hospitality sector in India.
"While this sounds exciting, but it's easier said than done," states Abhishek Moharana to Entrepreneur India.
"The best way to solve this problem was to come up with an intelligent virtual assistant that can converse with guests over voice as well as on everyday messaging platforms. Just like the way you would communicate with your friend at any time of the day, and all this without having to install a new app," adds Moharana.
This led Trilyo to develop an AI-driven voice & chat-based solution hat drives loyalty.
The Fundraising Strategy
With Trilyo having raised $250000 in the venture round, its founders are optimistic about the entire fundraising process.
"Raising fund cannot be categorized as easy or difficult," stresses Moharana. He believes that the success in fundraising by companies tends to depend on a variety of factors such as quality of the issuer, history of the industry in which the company is working on, and also on the company's previous track record. Other factors, as per Moharana, include the profit track records, and balance sheets.
Also, with Pulse Venture Capital leading Trilyo's latest funding, Moharana reiterates the fact that the investors actively look at early-stage startups in the AI space having a global product and few initial clients.
When Entrepreneur India sought to know the key strategies from Moharana, he came with a few points. We have Moharana's recommendations and strategies to secure funding and how Trilyo acquired capital as follows:
- A clear vision of where the company sees itself in the next 5 years and how you will achieve this. Since you are in an early stage, you should identify 2-3 routes to achieve the end goals.
- For B2B companies, investors look for few initial clients who are willing to bet on your product.
- Having a balanced team across tech, marketing, operations and sales.
- Get a mentor who will also be your friend and an evangelist for your company. Investor community is small and words spread quickly.
Future Funding Aspects for Trilyo
With Trilyo's focus being a global product, the venture is looking at expansion in the Middle East and South East Asian markets. Moharana stated that Trilyo would look to raise Series A funds amounting to $2.5-$3 million over the next six months.
Future Growth Plans and Proposed Amount of Capital You Require.
Growth of any company with an idea and money can always be a successful one if one knows how to use the money, which market would be a good investment and which one will not give a good return. Clearly it all depends upon a well-researched and prepared plan.
Trilyo is building a global product and we want to be a leader in this space. We're poised to expand our presence in Middle East and SE Asia market. We'll explore both partnership and direct route. We'll be taking both organic and inorganic growth route to grow customer base and add more complementary product line to complete the solution. We're looking to raise series A of US $2.5-3 million in next 4-6 months.
