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Y Combinator Alum Launches Atli, an AI-Powered Travel eSIM Built Into WhatsApp

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Y Combinator Alum Launches Atli, an AI-Powered Travel eSIM Built Into WhatsApp
Business

Business

Y Combinator Alum Launches Atli, an AI-Powered Travel eSIM Built Into WhatsApp

2026-09-10 20:47 Last Updated At:21:05

Razer-backed travel tech company XForge Mobile turns WhatsApp into a travel connectivity platform for international travel - helping travelers find, buy and activate eSIM data across 200+ countries through a conversation.

SAN FRANCISCO and SINGAPORE, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Techlogic Solutions Inc., the U.S. company behind XForge Mobile, today launched Atli, an AI travel companion built into WhatsApp that helps international travelers get connected abroad through a conversation.

Atli was built by Peter Hoang, who co-founded Gotrade - a Y Combinator company - before founding XForge Mobile. The group is backed by Razer's zVentures, Rebel Fund and Founderheads.

For international travelers, getting connected abroad still means either paying for expensive roaming or shopping for a travel eSIM - comparing plans, guessing how much data they need and working through setup, often while already on the move.

Atli replaces that sequence with a message.

A traveler can write: "I land in Rome Thursday for 10 days."

Atli uses the trip context to recommend a suitable data plan, takes the traveler through payment and guides eSIM activation. The same conversation stays open throughout the trip if the traveler needs to check their data, top up or get help getting connected.

"Most AI travel products start with inspiration and planning, then hand the traveler somewhere else when it is time to transact," said Peter Hoang, co-founder and CEO of XForge Mobile. "We started at the transaction. Connectivity is one of the first things a traveler actually needs, and it has to work before almost everything else on the trip does."

From AI Recommendations to AI Transactions

Generative AI has made it increasingly easy to build itineraries, research destinations and ask travel questions. XForge Mobile believes the next opportunity is moving from AI that recommends to AI that acts.

Atli starts with connectivity because it is one of the first essential purchases associated with an international trip.

Rather than requiring travelers to begin with a country list and data allowances, Atli starts with natural language:

Tell Atli where you're going. Atli helps work out the rest.

The conversational interface also changes how travel connectivity can be distributed.

A travel creator can share an Atli link with followers. A hotel can place a QR code at reception. A travel agent can send it to customers before departure. One tap opens the conversation and takes the traveler directly into the purchase flow.

"Our goal is to make distributing connectivity as easy as sharing a link," Hoang said. "Messaging becomes the storefront."

A Conversation That Stays With the Traveler

That continuity is central to Atli's longer-term strategy.

Most online travel transactions end once the booking or purchase is complete. Atli is designed to remain available through the same conversation while the traveler is abroad.

The company's longer-term plan is to extend Atli beyond connectivity into other parts of the journey.

Planned capabilities include a travel wallet and services that could allow the assistant to top up data, manage rewards and help travelers transact through the same conversational interface.

"Connectivity is the wedge, not the destination," Hoang said. "We want to be the layer that stays with a traveler from the first message to the last day of the trip. Building the connectivity relationship earns us the opportunity to help with what comes next."

From Travel Devices to Global Connectivity

Atli is part of XForge Mobile's broader travel technology business.

The company has previously developed and shipped connected mobile devices to customers across more than 60 countries.

XForge Mobile also makes NOMAD, a 100W GaN universal travel adapter designed for international travelers. NOMAD units include Atli travel data credit, connecting the company's physical travel products with its digital connectivity platform.

Atli currently offers travel eSIM data plans across 200+ countries and destinations.

The service is available through WhatsApp and Telegram, with Apple iOS and Android apps coming soon. More information is available at heyatli.com.

Destination guides, eSIM setup instructions and country-by-country data pricing are published in 12 languages on the Atli travel blog.

About XForge Mobile - XForge Mobile is a travel technology business operated by Techlogic Solutions Inc. Its products include NOMAD, a universal 100W GaN travel adapter, and Atli, an AI travel companion and global eSIM platform. The business is backed by Razer's zVentures, Rebel Fund, and Founderheads.

Media Contact

Peter Hoang, Co-founder and CEO, hello@xforgemobile.com, +14244453187

Press kit: https://atlitravel.notion.site

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

Y Combinator Alum Launches Atli, an AI-Powered Travel eSIM Built Into WhatsApp

Y Combinator Alum Launches Atli, an AI-Powered Travel eSIM Built Into WhatsApp

WENZHOU, China, Oct. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China Daily:

On October 24, the World Young Scientist Summit 2026 opened in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. The event is hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, and the World Association of Young Scientists. Nearly 800 representatives, including scientists, educators, and entrepreneurs from more than 60 countries and regions, are attending the summit.

With the theme "Gathering Talents Worldwide to Create a Better Future," the summit's annual agenda is "Global Youth Action in the AI Era: Building a Sustainable Future." It aims to draw on the insights of young people around the world, deepen international sci-tech cooperation, and jointly address questions about young people, science, the world and the future.

Delivered keynote speeches respectively on education reform in the AI era, AI and processor chips, young women scientists' participation in science, and quantum computing. They explored new opportunities for scientific research, talent cultivation, and international cooperation in the AI era.

This year's summit placed greater emphasis on the growth needs of young scientists, with young talents under the age of 45 accounting for 88 percent of participants. It aimed to build a cluster of international journals, bring together young scientific talent, facilitate a batch of international collaborative projects and advance the application and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. The summit released the Report on the Distribution and Mobility of Young Scientists in the Field of Embodied Intelligence, launched the World Young Scientist Summit Partner Journal Program and the 2026 World Young Scientist Innovation and Entrepreneurship Growth Support Program. It also published the "Young Scientist Pioneers 2035" list and announced the 2026 Sustainable Development Young Scientist Award. The awards were presented to four Chinese and foreign scientists.

In addition, the conference focused on fields such as future manufacturing, quantum information, embodied intelligence, brain-computer intelligence, environmental science, deep-sea resources, and life and health, and held 12 parallel forums. It also included the "Gravitation π" Future Technology and Concept Products Exhibition and Exchange, local thematic side events, and sci-tech and humanities study visits, further building an interdisciplinary, cross-regional and cross-sector platform for youth sci-tech exchange and cooperation.

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

World Young Scientist Summit 2026 Opens in Wenzhou, Zhejiang

World Young Scientist Summit 2026 Opens in Wenzhou, Zhejiang

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