Travel platform Onto has raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Stargazer Fund, with participation from Singapore-based White Venture Capital, as it launches its services with a feature designed to help travellers save money even after booking a hotel.
Founded in June 2026 by Jagdeep Singh and Shubham Goyal, the Bengaluru-based startup allows users to discover and book hotels while tracking price changes on eligible reservations. Its first offering, Price Drop Refund, aims to address a common problem for travellers: hotel room rates can fall after a booking has already been confirmed.
The company plans to use the fresh capital to scale operations, strengthen its technology infrastructure and develop new products.
Onto’s Price Drop Refund Tracks Hotel Rates After Booking
Onto’s first product focuses on what happens after a traveller makes a hotel reservation. If the price of an eligible booking drops later, the platform refunds the difference to the original payment method, subject to the booking meeting its eligibility requirements.
The feature covers reservations made directly through Onto as well as eligible bookings made on other platforms, extending its price-tracking service beyond bookings completed within its own ecosystem.
Onto monitors hotel prices after a reservation is made. When the same hotel room for the same dates becomes available at a lower price, the platform identifies the difference and processes the refund. Users receive updates about price changes and refunds through WhatsApp and app notifications.
The approach makes post-booking price monitoring the centre of Onto’s initial offering. Rather than requiring travellers to repeatedly check rates themselves, the platform is designed to track eligible reservations and return the savings when prices fall.
$1 Million Funding to Support Product Development
The pre-seed round, led by Stargazer Fund and backed by White Venture Capital, will support Onto as it develops its platform and expands its operations.
The company intends to invest in its technology infrastructure, scale its operational capabilities and build additional products. These plans indicate that Onto aims to develop beyond its initial hotel price-tracking feature.
The startup has integrated with multiple hotel suppliers, enabling it to offer accommodation bookings across domestic and international destinations. These integrations form the foundation of its current booking service as it works towards expanding the range of travel-related services available to customers.
AI Features Planned Around Traveller Preferences
Alongside its existing price-monitoring product, Onto is developing artificial intelligence-based features to make hotel discovery more tailored to individual users.
The planned tools are intended to understand travellers’ preferences and past travel behaviour, recommend relevant options and explain why particular recommendations may suit their needs.
The emphasis is on making recommendations more relevant to individual travellers rather than simply presenting accommodation choices. By combining booking services, price monitoring and personalised recommendations, Onto is working towards a platform that supports multiple stages of the hotel-booking process.
The AI-powered features are still under development, and the company has not detailed their rollout timeline.
Onto Plans to Expand Beyond Hotel Bookings
Onto’s longer-term plans extend beyond hotel reservations, with the startup aiming to simplify other parts of the travel journey through additional products.
For now, Price Drop Refund is its first offering and the clearest expression of its customer-first approach. The service focuses on helping travellers benefit from price changes that occur after they have committed to a booking, while its supplier integrations support hotel discovery across different destinations.
With its $1 million pre-seed funding secured and services launched, Onto will focus on expanding its operations, improving its technology and developing further features for travellers.
The company’s next phase will centre on building out its product offering, including its planned AI-based recommendations and services beyond hotel bookings.
Also Read: Anthropic’s $80.7 Billion Loss: $72 Billion Accounting Twist Before IPO
