Tours and activities platform Headout acquires Dabble to build AI experiences

Headout, the New York-based tours and activities marketplace, has acquired Dabble, a Y Combinator-backed startup that creates solutions to bridge the digital and physical worlds.

Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

Dabble works with computer vision, artificial intelligence and spatial computing to build applications for gaming, indoor navigation, training and more.

In announcing the acquisition, Headout said it will use Dabble’s capabilities to build “a new generation of AI-powered travel experiences for Headout users.”

“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,” said Varun Khona, Headout co-founder and CEO.

“We’re huge believers in the positive impact of the age of AI. We foresee a world with improved human productivity and creativity freeing us up to make time for things that truly matter. From our very first meeting with the Dabble team, it was clear that we share a common ethos in leveraging AI to make a more human, a more joyful and a more magical world. I can’t wait to share and show some of the technology we are working on to make the best real life experiences even better in the coming months.”

Headout said Dabble will help to build new capabilities for both the discovery and in-person delivery of experiences. Dabble was founded in 2021 and is based in Toronto.

“What made us swipe right on Headout was our shared vision that AI can transform the way people experience the physical world around them,” said Neil Mathew, co-founder and CEO of Dabble.

“With recent breakthroughs in large language models, computer vision and immersive content, a disruptive transformation in real life experiences is inevitable, and Headout is perfectly positioned to lead the charge as a managed marketplace curating only the world’s best real life experiences. We were impressed with the execution, ambition and resilience we saw in the entire Headout team and we’re thrilled to become a part of what is now our collective journey.”

Founded in 2015, Headout provides experiences in 125 cities around the world and has raised more than $60 million, with its most recent funding round a $30 million Series B in 2022.