AI for Malaysian SMEs: Key Lessons from Fora’s $60M Unicorn Round
AI for Malaysian SMEs is more than a buzzword—it’s a practical way to cut busywork and let your team focus on what matters. Fora, an AI-powered travel agency, just raised $60 million and hit a $1 billion valuation by using AI to handle admin tasks so human agents can focus on building relationships. Here’s what your SME can learn from their approach.
Think about your top salesperson spending hours each day on admin work—researching options, compiling quotes, chasing paperwork. That’s time they could spend with clients and closing deals. Fora built an AI assistant that does the grunt work, freeing agents to do what they do best.
Fora Hits Unicorn Status with $60M Series D
Fora announced a $60 million Series D round, led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion. Since its founding in 2021, agents using the Fora platform have booked over $3 billion worth of travel. Other investors in this round include Insight Partners and Thrive Capital, bringing Fora’s total funding to $138.5 million.
Fora’s platform works in two ways: it lets people easily become travel agents by providing the infrastructure to support client communication and travel planning, and it lets users find and communicate with advisors for trips like honeymoons or family vacations to destinations like Costa Rica or Thailand.
Fora’s AI Assistant Via
Part of the fresh capital will go toward expanding Fora’s AI assistant, Via, which handles tedious administrative tasks such as research and itinerary building. This frees up human agents to spend more time building client relationships.
“The hope is that the human travel agents who use the platform can instead spend more time building client relations, and that using Fora’s AI will help human productivity rather than attempt to replace it.” — Dominic-Madori Davis, TechCrunch
What This Means for Malaysian SMEs
You might not run a travel agency, but the core principle applies directly to your business. AI for Malaysian SMEs isn’t about replacing people—it’s about supporting them. Here’s how you can apply the Fora model today:
- Find the time sinks. Look at your team. What repetitive tasks eat up their time? Research, data entry, scheduling, follow-ups. Those are good places to start with automation.
- Support your team with AI. The ROI comes from letting your best people focus on high-value work—client relationships, strategic thinking, and closing deals.
- Start small and scale. You don’t need a $60 million AI assistant. Existing tools can handle CRM automation, email outreach, and data analysis. Pick one pain point and solve it.
Key Takeaways for Malaysian SMEs
Fora’s story shows that AI can be a practical tool for businesses. For Malaysian SMEs, the opportunity is to use AI to free up your team to do what they do best—build relationships, solve problems, and grow your business.