How Thrillophilia Built a Rs 500-Crore AI-Led Travel-Tech Engine

Thrillophilia, which began in 2011 as a two-person adventure portal, has scaled into what the company describes as one of India’s largest AI-driven multi-day tours platforms, managing more than Rs 500 crore in annual booking value. According to the company, its growth—achieved without aggressive venture funding and outside India’s conventional startup corridors—comes from a long-term focus on profitability, verified supply and disciplined unit economics in a sector historically associated with cash burn and consolidation.

The founders, Abhishek and Chitra Daga, initially built the platform around a behavioural insight: Indians were researching experiences online but hesitant to book digitally. With limited capital, the company shifted early attention to corporate off-sites, a move that generated steady revenue and helped build operational depth.

The company said a critical turning point came in 2015. After raising a $1.2 million seed fund, Thrillophilia began preparing for a larger Series A, which eventually fell through. Rather than wind down—as several investors reportedly advised—the founders rebuilt the business around sustainable margins and a more controlled growth path.

Today, Thrillophilia’s core differentiator, as described by the company, is its AI-led architecture designed to personalise and scale complex travel planning. Its Personalized Itinerary Creator analyses behavioural signals, sales conversations, preference patterns and real-time supply data to generate bookable itineraries within minutes. The system handles more than one million leads and evaluates variables such as age, budget and travel intent.

A Sales Co-Pilot predicts conversion likelihood and guides sales teams with next-best actions, while a Feasibility & Risk Engine checks pacing, weather, seasonality and accessibility before finalising itineraries. Post-booking, the company claims its AI-powered support platform autonomously resolves nearly 60% of customer queries, trained to respond with contextual consistency and empathy.

Thrillophilia said it now integrates with more than 300 global technology partners, giving access to millions of hotels and activities via API-linked networks. Its proprietary itinerary engine—evaluating over 200 parameters—now powers more than 300,000 annual bookings, a nearly fivefold increase since 2020.

The company added that 78% of its workforce comes from Tier-II cities and over 40% are women. Thrillophilia completed the buyback of its angel investors between 2022 and 2023, gaining full strategic control, and has since expanded to over 35 countries, with subsidiaries in the UAE and the US. Plans for a multilingual booking interface and entry into European markets are slated for 2026.

According to the company, it invests around Rs 24 crore annually in R&D across predictive pricing, AI-led planning and workflow automation, positioning itself for deeper global expansion as India’s customised multi-day travel market accelerates.