SAIF Partners leads $1.5 million seed round in Airblack

VC firm SAIF Partners has invested $1.5 million in New Delhi-based social-travel commerce startup Airblack. The seed round will be utilized for launching their consumer product, ramping up their traveler community and hiring of the core team.

The venture firm, which manages over $4 billion in assets across India and China, has earlier backed travel companies like MakeMyTrip, Treebo and Travel Triangle.

Started by Pulkit Pujara and Videt Jaiswal in February this year, Airblack taps into the WhatsApp and Instagram ecosystem to connect travelers with a verified network of power travelers and travel influencers.

“We saw there is a strong social need in travelers to talk to other travelers before making purchase decisions, and an aversion to talking to travel agents because they are not relatable to this audience,” says Videt Jaiswal, co-founder, Airblack.

"Over $600 billion is spent on international travel in Asia, and we see India's international travel market at an inflection point already. We strongly believe that a large wave of the new consumer demand in travel will be led by people who like to have independence in planning their trips. With increasing disposable income, spend on international travel will go up. And these users will look for social validation online before deciding on a high involvement purchase like travel", says Mayank Khanduja, Principal, SAIF Partners.