Meili, a Dublin-based travel technology company, plans to double its airline customer base to 100 by the end of 2027 while expanding its product range internationally. The target follows early traction with 50 airline customers, including a recent go-live with Alaska Airlines.

Meili is based at Nexus UCD in Dublin and was founded in 2021 by Mike McGearty and Bobby Healy. The company employs 50 staff and has raised 25 million euros in funding to date.

"If you are booking a flight, we're a piece of technology that integrates seamlessly into the airline's website. That technology offers you the different car rental options that are applicable to go with the flight you are booking," McGearty told the Business Post. "We overlay the customer's loyalty profile and other elements to provide added value."

McGearty and Healy, who also founded drone business Manna, previously worked together at CarTrawler, where the idea for Meili originated. "We understood that there's a lot of friction out there for customers. We were sitting back with time to spare thinking about building a global business that could fix some of that," McGearty said.

"We first had to build the platform and then change the market, because a lot of people were used to the intermediary model. We had to show airlines and other travel brands that there was another way of doing things," McGearty said. "We're seeing now that the adoption in the market is accelerating towards the direct model we're offering."

McGearty said the business is focused on continued product development. "We want to continue to build out our technology. We're driving product development and innovation based on data and the feedback from the stakeholders involved," he said. "We want to reach 100 customers by the end of 2027 and to go live with other products, including hotel bookings, because we believe there are opportunities in the market."

For the sector, Meili's growth reflects a wider shift among airlines toward direct, technology-led ancillary partnerships over traditional intermediary booking models.