Executives at Halifax travel scheduling startup Trip Ninja are shuttering the company, citing COVID-19’s protracted effects on the travel industry, as first reported by Huddle.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Andres Collart and Developer Rob Dumont, Trip Ninja was originally conceived as a way for consumers using travel-booking websites like Britain’s Globehunters.com to find the cheapest routes for multi-city trips. In October, the company introduced a revised version of its software, dubbed QuickTrip, that was targeted at brick-and-mortar travel agents.

“When we put our rudimentary program on the internet for other people to use we wouldn’t have believed where it would lead us: building a company, raising funding, and meeting travel professionals all over the world,” wrote Collart in a LinkedIn post.

“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the pressures it has put on the travel industry, we have made the difficult decision to close down Trip Ninja.”

Last October, the company had eight employees distributed across Canada and its software was available in English, Spanish, French and Japanese.

Trip Ninja had raised investment from several funders, including Innovacorp, which sank more than $100,000 into the company. 

At the time, Collart told Entrevestor he hoped the pivot to legacy travel agents would allow Trip Ninja to scale faster. Integrating its software into online travel-booking services was a complex, multi-week process, and the version built for travel agents required less complex integration and could be functional within days.

“We are now striking out and pursuing new opportunities in travel and beyond,” wrote Collart on LinkedIn.

“The world has changed immensely and we’re already seeing new approaches to business being pioneered to meet the challenges of the new landscape. We're eager to be part of that change and if you're looking for some development, product, and operational horsepower in your business, please message me - I’d love to chat!”