INSTANTrip bets AI replaces trip planning; App Store travel #1 in 3 weeks

INSTANTrip is an AI travel curation app: users enter a budget and dates, and AI recommends and books flights, hotels, eSIM and activities, positioned with the slogan 'travel without worries'.

That AI can compress trip planning — flights, hotels, eSIM, activities — into one prompt, replacing multi-site booking for budget-conscious travelers.

No venture round disclosed; selected for Konkuk University's 2025 'pre-startup package' (예비창업패키지), providing commercialization funds and mentoring.

Ahn Young-bin, an electrical engineering student at Konkuk University (class of 2019), founded Grunui through the KU Startup Club. In January 2025 he visited CES through Konkuk's global startup frontier program; the team built INSTANTrip around the pain of juggling flights, hotels, eSIM and activities across multiple booking sites.

INSTANTrip officially launched on 2025-04-21. Within three weeks it reached #1 in the Apple App Store travel category and #32 in the overall popularity chart, prompting coverage across Korean media; the company announced partnerships with Trip.com, HotelsCombined and Agoda, and was selected for Konkuk's 2025 pre-startup package with commercialization funds and mentoring for global expansion.

Still live and expanding: by January 2026 Grunui was pitching a new AI-based travel-data analytics solution (CatchProg) on Venturesquare, signaling a B2B pivot beyond the consumer app; no funding round or revenue figures have been disclosed.

The wedge was simplicity: budget and dates in, a full itinerary with bookings out — a clear contrast to juggling multiple OTA sites.

App Store chart mechanics rewarded the launch: a new, free, AI-flagged travel app surged to category #1 within three weeks, generating press.

University programs supplied what a student founder lacked: CES exposure, commercialization funds and mentoring.

The pivot to travel-data analytics (CatchProg) suggests consumer travel apps monetize poorly — a hedge into B2B data.

A chart win can validate a consumer bet, but without disclosed revenue the moat is unproven — Grunui's 2026 shift toward travel-data analytics shows how a student startup hedges a crowded category.

As of January 2026 INSTANTrip is still live on the App Store and Google Play, and Grunui is active: on 2026-01-13 it presented 'CatchProg', an AI-based travel data analysis solution, on Venturesquare's morning program, signaling a B2B move. The June 2025 chart spike (#1 travel, #32 overall) came three weeks after the 2025-04-21 launch; partnerships with Trip.com, HotelsCombined and Agoda were announced, but no revenue or funding figures have been disclosed. The bet on AI trip planning is validated as a product, but its durability as a business remains unproven.