VBooking Secures $5M to Revolutionise Travel with AI and Digital Currency

UAE-based VBooking has secured USD 5 million to push its AI-driven travel ecosystem to the next stage, a move that feels very much in line with how the region’s travel-tech scene has been heating up lately. I remember speaking with a few founders at an Arageek community gathering earlier this year—everyone kept saying the same thing: travel is ripe for a shake‑up, but sorting out the tech behind it can be a bit of a faff.

VBooking’s founder and CEO, Omeri Abu Madi, put it rather plainly in public remarks, saying the company isn’t simply building another booking tool but “a complete smart travel ecosystem that redefines the relationship between the traveler, the travel agent, and the service provider.” And believe it or not, that ambition doesn’t stop there. The fresh funding is set to fuel the development of an AI Concierge—essentially a voice‑activated digital guide designed to cut through complicated apps. The plan is to blend this with augmented reality so travellers can get instant information or make bookings just by speaking naturally. I reckon if they pull that off, it could be spot on for travellers who are tired of endless scrolling.

Abu Madi also highlighted that this funding round followed a flexible approach combining cash investment with operational partnerships, something he said helped translate the deal “directly into tangible growth and market impact.” On the flip side, financing alone wouldn’t solve one of the travel sector’s biggest headaches: high cross‑border fees. To tackle that, VBooking is working on TUSD (Travel USD), a digital currency expected to roll out in Q2 2026. The idea is to allow instant, commission‑free payments—an ambitious attempt to smooth out the messy payment processes that, as many B2B agents tell me, can be a real thorn in the industry’s side.

The company is also putting money into strengthening its TuRbo operations engine, which uses AI to automate bookings and generate tailored tour packages while shaving down operational costs. It’s the sort of back‑end tool most travellers never see but rely on more than they realise, you know?

Founded in 2015 by Omrei Abu Madi, VBooking started out as a B2B booking platform and has gradually expanded into B2C offerings too. Its focus has always been on simplifying workflows and solving payment bottlenecks in tourism—very much the kind of practical innovation we at Arageek often see founders quietly obsessing over. It’s not always glamorous work, but it’s essential. And if VBooking manages to execute all these plans, I’d be chuffed to bits to see how far they can push the region’s travel ecosystem, even if the road ahead is definately full of twists.

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