Tours and activities platform Headout acquires Dabble to build AI-powered experiences for users

Headout, a New York-based tours and activities platform, has acquired Dabble, a Toronto-based virtual photo studio known for its AI and computer vision capabilities.

The acquisition aims to enhance Headout's mission of providing top-tier real-life experiences through advanced AI technology.

Headout plans to utilize Dabble's offerings to build AI-powered travel experiences.

This integration is expected to improve human productivity and creativity, allowing more time for meaningful activities. Khona emphasized the shared ethos with Dabble in leveraging AI to create a more human, joyful, and magical world.

What does Headout do?

Founded in 2014, Headout enables users to explore and reserve tours, activities, events, and local experiences worldwide.

It operates in over 125 cities and caters to more than 27 million individuals from 196 countries.

Bridging the digital and physical worlds

Founded in 2021, Dabble creates solutions to bridge the digital and physical worlds, leveraging computer vision, AI, and spatial computing to build applications for gaming, indoor navigation, and more.

Varun Khona, CEO and Co-founder of Headout, said, "The Dabble team sits at the cutting edge of the intersection of AI, computer vision, and new media—a combination that makes them perfectly placed to help accelerate our mission of getting everyone to head out to the world’s best real-life experiences."

How will Dabble's technology be used by Headout?

Dabble's expertise in AI, computer vision, and immersive 3D platforms will be crucial in developing new capabilities for discovering and in-person delivering travel experiences.

The technology will enhance experiential media, content creation, and fraud prevention within Headout's platform.

Neil Mathew, Co-founder and CEO of Dabble highlighted the shared vision between the two companies. "What made us swipe right on Headout was our shared vision that AI can transform the way people experience the physical world around them," Mathew said.

He believes that breakthroughs in large language models, computer vision, and immersive content will drive a transformative shift in real-life experiences.

Future plans

The integration of Dabble's technology is set to make significant improvements to Headout's service offerings in the coming months. Khona expressed excitement about the potential of the combined technologies to enhance real-life experiences.

The Dabble team will focus on integrating new user experiences during both the discovery phase and the actual delivery of the experiences.

Headout, backed by venture capital firms such as Y Combinator and Version One, has raised over $60 million to date. The company continues to expand its reach, aiming to make the best real-life experiences even better for its users.