Chaty.ai raises USD $1.15 million to boost tourism AI

Chaty.ai has raised USD $1.15 million in seed funding to support its conversational AI service for tourism and hospitality operators.

The Gold Coast-based business offers an AI phone receptionist and website chatbot for tour, experience and attraction operators that often miss customer calls while staff are busy on-site. The system is designed to answer common enquiries, send links by text message during calls and connect with booking platforms used across the sector.

Chaty.ai was founded by James Greig, who built the first version after encountering the problem in his own hospitality business, Wildflower Gin Distillery in Burleigh Heads, Queensland. The product emerged from the operational strain of balancing in-person guest service with a constant flow of phone enquiries.

The fundraising comes as the company rolls out Chaty Version 2.0, which reduces response latency and adds two-way high-definition audio to improve voice recognition in noisy settings. The updated system also offers a large library of accents and voices across multiple locales, allowing operators to choose how the assistant sounds to callers.

A key selling point is its connection to reservation and venue software already used by operators. Chaty.ai integrates directly with platforms including Rezdy, ROLLER, FareHarbor and Bokun, allowing the assistant to check availability, take payments and amend existing bookings without staff intervention.

That approach reflects a broader push in tourism technology to reduce the steps between customer enquiry and confirmed booking. Smaller operators in particular often rely on lean teams, leaving front-line workers to manage phones, walk-in guests, administration and venue operations at the same time.

Industry data cited by the company suggests more than 60% of calls to small and medium-sized tourism businesses go unanswered. It says most customers who fail to reach a person do not leave a voicemail and instead move to a rival operator.

Channel expansion

Alongside its phone product, Chaty.ai has launched a website chatbot that uses the same conversational system. It gives operators another customer contact point on their own websites, where travellers often look for opening hours, directions, waiver forms, menus or booking options before deciding whether to call.

The software can also send automated SMS links during a live call, letting customers receive items such as map pins, menus, liability waivers or payment links while the conversation is still in progress. The feature is intended to connect voice enquiries with an immediate digital transaction or follow-up action.

Chaty.ai also pointed to early customer use in the tourism market, citing Sea World Helicopters on the Gold Coast as one operator using the service to manage inbound customer calls when staff cannot answer directly.

"With Chaty, our customers are always looked after, even when our team can't take the call. It gives them a smooth, reliable experience and ensures every booking is captured without the frustration of clients reaching a voicemail," said Ben Hall of Sea World Helicopters on the Gold Coast.

Founder's view

Greig said the investment will support product development, hiring and broader market expansion. The company did not identify the investors involved in the seed round.

"This funding round is a testament to the shared vision we have with our early investors," said James Greig, founder of Chaty.ai. "They didn't just invest in our product; they invested in our vision of a world where tour and attraction operators can provide immediate, world-class service to their customers without operational burnout. Our team understands the unique pain points of this industry and its hunger for practical AI automation. We are uniquely positioned to elevate the customer journey while driving massive operational efficiencies. With this seed capital investment, we will accelerate product development, scale our engineering team, and expand our global market footprint."