Thrillophilia is an Indian online travel platform, founded around 2009 by Chitra Gurnani Daga and Abhishek Daga, that sells multi-day tours and activities, now with product teams in Jaipur and a new Gurgaon office.

This Startup Deep Dive explains what Thrillophilia does, how it makes money, who backs it, how it compares with rivals and what could go wrong, using publicly available information. It is educational and not investment advice. Last updated: October 2026.

Thrillophilia in Brief

• What it is: Thrillophilia is an Indian Online travel experiences and tours company based in Jaipur (reports differ; earlier profiles say Bangalore).
• Who it serves: businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers.
• Sells curated tours and experiences, including multi-day international and domestic packages.
• Serves 3 million+ travellers across 170+ destinations with 20,000+ experiences (company claims).
• Uses AI for trip planning, pricing intelligence and customised itineraries.
• Funding: About $200,000 documented (2013 angel round); one report says $1.2 million across 2013 and 2015.

Thrillophilia Quick Facts

Figures marked “reported” come from published reports and may differ between sources; “Not disclosed” means no reliable public figure was found.

What Is Thrillophilia?

Thrillophilia operates in the Online travel experiences and tours space in India. Understanding a company like this starts with three questions: who is the customer, what painful problem is being solved, and why the solution is better than the alternatives. The sections below apply that lens to Thrillophilia.

• Sells curated tours and experiences, including multi-day international and domestic packages.
• Serves 3 million+ travellers across 170+ destinations with 20,000+ experiences (company claims).
• Uses AI for trip planning, pricing intelligence and customised itineraries.
• International destinations include Switzerland, Abu Dhabi, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Georgia.

The Origin Story of Thrillophilia

Every company starts from a noticed gap and a team willing to commit to closing it. Strong origin stories are specific: a clear problem, a founding team with relevant skills, and an early product that real customers could test. Founder-market fit, meaning the team’s lived experience or technical depth in the domain, tends to predict how fast a young company learns.

• Founders: Chitra Gurnani Daga, Abhishek Daga.
• Co-founded by Chitra Gurnani Daga (CEO) and Abhishek Daga; a 2013 article says founded April 2009 and portal launched August 2009, while company careers material says 2011.
• Started as an online travel curator for activity and experiential trips, serving corporate clients and individuals.
• By 2013 it reported 400+ activity tours, 500+ corporate clients and 50,000+ travellers.

Key Milestones and Challenges

No startup grows in a straight line. Early years usually involve slow adoption, product rewrites, hiring mistakes and funding gaps. In the Online travel experiences and tours sector the common turning points are a first paying customer, a regulatory approval, a successful product demonstration or a funding round that lets the team invest ahead of demand. How a team responds to setbacks says more about resilience than any single headline.

• 2009: portal launched (per 2013 article).
• 2012: won Power of Ideas at IIM Ahmedabad.
• September 2013: raised $200,000 from Hyderabad Angels, iLabs, Navlok Ventures and CIIE IIM-A.
• FY24: revenue over Rs 500 crore (company-stated).
• December 2025: opened Gurgaon office on Golf Course Road, starting with 80 staff.

Thrillophilia Funding and Investors

Funding history shows how much outside confidence a company has attracted and how long it can operate before needing more capital. Figures below are reported and may differ between sources; valuation figures are estimates unless the company has confirmed them.

• 2011: undisclosed seed from a US-based investor (reported).
• September 2013: $200,000 led by Hyderabad Angels (lead investor Pradeep Mittal) with iLabs Venture Capital Fund, Navlok Ventures and CIIE IIM-A.
• 2015: possible further round; one report says total $1.2 million across 2013 and 2015, conflicting with other reporting that it operated without outside capital.

How Does Thrillophilia Make Money? (Business Model)

A business model describes who pays, how often and how much it costs to serve them. Strong models show repeat usage, improving margins with scale and acquisition channels that do not depend only on paid spend. Weak models show one-off sales, rising costs and growth that stops when spending stops. For companies selling to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers, sales cycles and contract size matter as much as headline growth.

• Online travel agency earning on bookings of tours and activities.
• Mix of curated packages and activities for individuals and corporates.

The Numbers: Thrillophilia Financials

Financial figures show whether growth is turning into a self-sustaining business. Small and private companies often disclose little, so any number below is included only if it was found in public reporting.

• FY24: revenue over Rs 500 crore, up 40% year on year (company-stated, no profit figure found).
• No FY25 revenue or profit located.

Market Opportunity for Thrillophilia

Market size is easy to exaggerate, so a useful approach separates the total market from the portion a company can realistically reach with its current product and distribution. The main forces behind demand in this sector are rising digital adoption, cloud and mobile penetration, growing enterprise technology spending, government digitisation programmes and a deep pool of engineering talent. Each of these widens the opportunity, but capital efficiency and execution decide who captures it.

• India multi-day tours and outbound travel market, with AI-led planning as a differentiator.
• Company targets 200+ destinations.

Technology and Product at Thrillophilia

Technology is rarely the whole moat, but it drives speed, cost and customer experience. A practical way to assess it is to separate the capability the company controls from the commodity infrastructure it rents. In this sector the important factors are product quality, data and integration depth, security, scalability and the speed of shipping improvements.

• AI-driven planning, real-time pricing intelligence and hyper-customised itineraries; product and AI teams in Jaipur.

Team and Culture at Thrillophilia

Teams are the most important and least measurable asset of a young company. Look at how complementary the founders’ skills are, how deep the second layer of leadership is, and how the company hires and retains specialists. Culture shows up in small repeated behaviours: how quickly bad news travels upward and whether commitments to customers are kept.

• 700+ employees across regions (company claim); plan to reach 1,200+ next year.
• Gurgaon office planned to grow from 80 to 200 staff within a year.

Thrillophilia Competitors: Competitive Landscape

A fair competitive analysis names direct rivals, adjacent players who could move into the space, and the customer’s default alternative. Durable advantages include proprietary data or technology, licences and approvals, brand trust, switching costs and cost leadership.

Risks and Challenges for Thrillophilia

• Scale and revenue claims are company-stated.
• Intense competition from OTAs and package marketplaces.
• Sources conflict on HQ, founding year and funding history.
• Rapid hiring plans raise cost pressure.
• Competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth.
• Funding risk: technology businesses often burn cash before reaching profit and depend on investor appetite.

Risk is not a reason to avoid a company; it is a reason to price it correctly and to monitor the right indicators over time. Regulation in this sector is shaped by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Thrillophilia Growth Outlook: What to Watch

• Plans to grow to 200+ destinations and expand headcount with Gurgaon hub.
• Positioning as an AI-led multi-day tour platform.
• Key indicators: recurring revenue, customer retention, gross margin, customer acquisition cost and runway.
• Funding position: Whether Thrillophilia can reach its next milestone before needing new capital.
• Regulation: Changes from data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Industry Context: Where Thrillophilia Fits

India's technology startup ecosystem is one of the largest in the world, supported by cheap data, a large base of smartphone users, digital public infrastructure and a deep engineering talent pool. Companies now build for education, software, mobility, logistics, agriculture, defence, media and more, selling both to Indian customers and abroad.

Durable technology companies usually combine a clear customer problem with repeatable distribution and disciplined unit economics. Growth funded only by spending tends to fade, while products that customers keep using and paying for build compounding advantages.

For readers new to this field, a useful habit is to separate announcements from evidence. A plan, a partnership or a funding headline describes intent, while a delivered product, a paying customer or an audited financial statement describes results. Comparing the two over time shows how reliably a company turns promises into outcomes.

Bull Case and Bear Case for Thrillophilia

An investment thesis is a short, testable statement of why a company could become far more valuable, together with what evidence would prove it wrong. The points below are general to this sector and are not forecasts for Thrillophilia.

Bull case

• A large and growing base of digital users and businesses expands the addressable market.
• Recurring revenue and strong retention can compound growth.
• Selling into global markets widens the opportunity beyond India.

Bear case

• Heavy competition can compress pricing and margins.
• Dependence on external funding can force painful cost cuts.
• Regulation or platform changes can disrupt a product quickly.

Lessons Founders and Investors Can Take from Thrillophilia

Studying a company in the Online travel experiences and tours space offers lessons that go beyond any single firm. The points below are general lessons for the sector and are not claims about Thrillophilia.

• Solving a clear, frequent customer problem matters more than adding features.
• Retention and repeat usage are better health signals than sign-ups.
• Disciplined spending extends runway and keeps options open when funding tightens.
• Distribution, not just product quality, decides who wins in crowded markets.
• Building trust through data protection and reliability is part of the product.

How to Evaluate Thrillophilia as a Startup

• Customer clarity: Can Thrillophilia name its customer and the problem it solves in one sentence?
• Evidence of demand: Look for repeat customers, signed contracts or measurable usage rather than announcements alone.
• Economics: Check whether margins improve as volume grows.
• Execution: Compare announced timelines with what has actually been delivered.
• Funding runway: Estimate how long current capital lasts at the present spending rate.
• Regulatory standing: Confirm required approvals are in place.
• Customer concentration: Check whether a few customers account for most of the revenue.
• Management depth: Look for experienced leaders beyond the founders and a stable core team.

The Takeaway

Thrillophilia is part of India’s growing Online travel experiences and tours ecosystem. The useful lesson from studying it is the discipline of asking structured questions about customers, economics, advantage and resilience. Companies that answer them well, repeatedly and under pressure are the ones that endure. Readers should treat any single report, ranking or funding headline as one input among many, and should re-check key facts against recent company announcements. Because public information on young companies is often limited, patience in verifying claims is part of good analysis. Public sources can also describe the same company in different ways, so it is worth checking dates, definitions and whether a figure refers to revenue, total income or transaction value, and whether it covers one entity or a wider group, before drawing conclusions. Small differences in rounding, currency conversion or reporting periods can also change how a figure reads. Comparing the same figure across several recent reports helps show whether it is stable or has changed over time. This article is educational and is not investment advice.

• Clear customers and repeat demand matter more than announcements.
• Regulation and capital needs shape how fast a startup in this sector can grow.
• Track a few leading indicators over time rather than one headline metric.

Thrillophilia FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Thrillophilia?

Thrillophilia is an Indian online travel platform, founded around 2009 by Chitra Gurnani Daga and Abhishek Daga, that sells multi-day tours and activities, now with product teams in Jaipur and a new Gurgaon office. It is profiled in the Startup Deep Dive series, which explains business model, funding, competitors and risks.

Who founded Thrillophilia?

Thrillophilia was founded by Chitra Gurnani Daga, Abhishek Daga, and the company reports a founding year of 2009 (reports differ; company material says 2011).

How much funding has Thrillophilia raised?

About $200,000 documented (2013 angel round); one report says $1.2 million across 2013 and 2015. Funding figures are reported and may differ between sources, so readers should check the latest company announcements.

How does Thrillophilia make money?

Thrillophilia earns revenue from its Online travel experiences and tours products and services sold to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers. The exact revenue mix is described in the business model section and is not fully disclosed publicly.

Who are the competitors of Thrillophilia?

Reported rivals include TravelTriangle, Tripoto, Holidify, MakeMyTrip. See the competitor comparison above for how they differ.

What are the main risks for Thrillophilia?

Main risks include competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth, funding and capital needs, competition and regulation by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules. This is educational content, not investment advice.

Related Startup Deep Dives: Rapipay — Rapipay: agent-led fintech with INR 439 Cr FY23 revenue | Naturals Ice Cream — FY24 retail turnover Rs 374 crore and net income Rs 45 crore, with a target of Rs 500 crore revenue by FY27. Browse the full Startup Deep Dive series.

Source

Source: Publicly available data, published reports, industry research, and other credible sources.