Francis Davidson
Francis Davidson is a technology founder who currently works at OpenAI following its acquisition of his AI travel startup, Odessia, in November 2026. He is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Sonder, a short-term rental company he started in 2014 that grew to over $600 million in annual revenue before ultimately collapsing into bankruptcy in 2025. Prior to joining OpenAI, he founded Odessia in early 2026 and built an AI-powered travel planning and booking agent that facilitated over $60 million in annual travel planning before being shut down upon acquisition.
“OpenAI has acquired Odessia, a one-year-old AI travel startup founded by Sonder creator Francis Davidson in what appears to be an acqui-hire.”
Source→AI-extracted from podcast / newsletter / paper summaries. May contain errors.