Inspirock

Founded in 2012 by Anoop Goyal and Prakash Sikchi, Inspirock emerged from the founders' shared passion for travel, which began during their time as students at Stanford University. The idea was conceived during a trip in Washington state, born from their desire to simplify the complexities of planning family vacations compared to their earlier, more spontaneous backpacking journeys. Initially self-funded, the company secured a significant milestone in May 2015 with a $3 million seed round led by the prominent Indian online travel agency, MakeMyTrip, which acquired an 18% stake. This investment was part of MakeMyTrip's strategy to enhance customer engagement in the trip-planning phase. A major turning point for the company came in October 2021, when it was acquired by Klarna, a leading global retail bank and payments service, for an undisclosed amount.

Inspirock operates as an online trip planner that leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data to generate personalized, day-by-day itineraries for travelers. The platform's core technology analyzes numerous data points, including attraction popularity, travel times, and business hours, to construct optimized travel plans from trillions of possibilities within seconds. Users can input their destination, dates, and travel preferences—such as pace and interest in popular versus hidden gems—to receive a detailed, customizable schedule. The service is free for end-users. Inspirock's business model is based on affiliate commissions; it partners with booking sites for hotels, flights, and tours, earning a fee when users make reservations through links on its platform. Additionally, the acquisition by Klarna opened up new revenue streams by providing advertising and marketing opportunities to Klarna's extensive network of retail partners, allowing them to reach high-intent travelers with personalized content.

The platform serves a global user base, with travelers from over 190 countries using the service to plan their trips. Its technology can be integrated as a white-label solution for other travel sites, a B2B model demonstrated through partnerships with organizations like Brand USA and Tourism Australia to power their itinerary planning features. The service allows users to create plans for a single city, an entire region, or even multi-country tours. Key features include the ability to fully customize the generated itinerary, collaborate with co-travelers on a single plan, and book arrangements directly through integrated partners. Following its acquisition, Inspirock's capabilities are being integrated into the Klarna app, enabling users to plan, shop for, and pay for their trips in installments, combining travel planning with buy-now-pay-later financial services.

Keywords: trip planner, itinerary generator, travel planning, AI travel, personalized itinerary, vacation planner, MakeMyTrip, Klarna acquisition, Anoop Goyal, Prakash Sikchi, travel technology, custom travel plans, travel itinerary builder, online travel tool, affiliate travel, travel booking integration, destination marketing, white-label travel planner, travel tech startup, multi-destination travel