# Dayo Esho

> Dayo Esho is the Co-founder and CEO of TravelJoy, a San Francisco-based SaaS platform that serves as an all-in-one operating system for independent travel advisors. Raised on the front lines of his mother's travel agency, he built TravelJoy after interviewing 50 travel agents and confirming a near-universal set of pain points: too many spreadsheets, too little time, and no software built specifically for them. Since launching, TravelJoy has grown to facilitate over $1 billion in annual customer spend, raised a $10M Series A led by Acrew Capital in March 2024, and deployed an AI-powered Itinerary Copilot that is reshaping how travel advisors create and sell trips.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at TravelJoy
- **Organizations:** TravelJoy, Shelf.com, Rapleaf / LiveRamp, NFX
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley, M.S. in Systems Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Built TravelJoy to facilitate over $1 billion in annual travel spend for customers, Raised $10M Series A led by Acrew Capital (Theresia Gouw) in March 2024; total funding $15.8M, Grew TravelJoy 6x in GMV after Series A funding; 5x trips created; 3x daily active agents

## Career timeline

- **2006** — Co-founded Rapleaf, a data solutions company that later became LiveRamp; served as Head of Product and Engineering Manager
- **2012** — Transitioned from Rapleaf; began advising Whistle Labs
- **2013** — Co-founded Shelf.com (product recommendation platform) alongside Chris Kline
- **2016** — Co-founded TravelJoy with Chris Kline, inspired by witnessing his mother's travel agency operations
- **2018** — TravelJoy began active development; participated in NFX accelerator program and received seed funding
- **2021** — Received early investment from Forerunner Ventures
- **2024** — Closed $10M Series A led by Acrew Capital (Theresia Gouw); launched AI Itinerary Copilot; TravelJoy achieves $1B+ in annual customer spend facilitated

## Achievements

- Built TravelJoy to facilitate over $1 billion in annual travel spend for customers
- Raised $10M Series A led by Acrew Capital (Theresia Gouw) in March 2024; total funding $15.8M
- Grew TravelJoy 6x in GMV after Series A funding; 5x trips created; 3x daily active agents
- Launched AI Itinerary Copilot - an AI tool that generates detailed travel itineraries from natural language prompts
- Co-founded Rapleaf (later LiveRamp), a significant data solutions company
- Successfully completed NFX accelerator program in 2018
- Backed by top-tier investors: Acrew Capital, NFX, Founder Collective, Forerunner Ventures, Concrete Rose

## Latest updates

- **2024-03** — Closed $10M Series A led by Theresia Gouw at Acrew Capital; announced plans to expand team, product, and customer success initiatives
- **2024-03** — TravelJoy reported 3x Daily Active Agents, 5x trips created, and 6x GMV growth post-Series A
- **2024-12** — Dayo Esho appeared on TIQUE Talks podcast (Episode 105) discussing AI automation and the future of travel advisory services
- **2024** — Launched AI Itinerary Copilot - generates full travel itineraries from natural language prompts for travel advisors

## Links

- Website: https://traveljoy.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dayoesho/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/dayo
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/dayoesho

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dayo-esho
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14