TravelAI has acquired the Sonder brand, comprising the Sonder word mark and an associated global trademark and domain name portfolio, including the Sonder.com domain. TravelAI is the operating name of UpNext Ventures Inc. and its subsidiaries.
The acquisition is limited to Sonder’s brand and intellectual property: TravelAI did not acquire Sonder’s operating business, including its properties, leases, inventory, or staff.
The brand relaunches the new Sonder.com as a curated guide to the world’s best urban stays, and as a flagship consumer brand built on the memory infrastructure TravelAI is building for the travel industry.
John Lyotier, co-founder and CEO of TravelAI, observed that: “Sonder earned something rare: a name people remember and a standard of taste they trusted.”
And Lyotier continued: “We did not acquire a portfolio of buildings. We acquired the one brand in travel whose name already means what we are building with our memory infrastructure. Where the old Sonder’s technology once lived in the lock on the door, it now lives in discovery, memory, and AI-enabled personalization.”
Some Background
In November 2025, after Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) announced the termination of its partnership with the old Sonder, Sonder’s parent company announced a wind-down of operations.
In Canada, Sonder Canada Inc. and Hospitalité Sonder Canada Inc. filed for bankruptcy under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. It is from these Canadian entities’ estates, through their court-supervised bankruptcy, that UpNext Ventures Inc. acquired the Sonder brand assets: inclusive of the SONDER word mark across more than 50 global trademark registrations, and more than 70 domain names, including Sonder.com.
Following a review conducted by the Trustee, Ernst & Young Inc., with the assistance of its legal counsel, the Trustee concluded that the available evidence supported the Canadian Sonder entities’ rights and interests in the trademarks and domain names, which had been used across the broader Sonder group.
The Superior Court of Québec (Commercial Division) approved the sale to UpNext Ventures Inc. at a hearing held on July 6, 2026.
TravelAI and UpNext Ventures Inc. are not affiliated with Sonder Holdings Inc. (OTC: SONDQ). The transaction was completed with the court-appointed Trustee of the Canadian estates and does not involve Sonder Holdings Inc. or its securities.
The new Sonder.com is a curated guide, not a hotel operator. Travellers see a considered selection chosen for design, neighbourhood, and quality. The new Sonder curates accommodations in New York, Chicago, Boston, Miami, London, Barcelona, Dubai, and most of the world’s major urban centres.
Sonder joins a growing family of travel brands TravelAI has acquired and revitalized, including Casai, Smartours, and OwnerDirect.
Go to www.sonder.com or to www.travelai.com for more.
