Urbanary: New AI platform aims to help Leeds venues attract new audiences
A new AI-driven platform has been launched in Leeds aiming to give residents and visitors a smarter way to explore the city’s nightlife.
Urbanary, an AI-powered discovery platform, is designed to give users a personalised guide to exploring the city’s bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
The new technology uses an AI-powered chatbot to deliver personalised recommendations tailored by age, preferences and mood. The platform is free and can be accessed through a mobile-optimised website.
Launched by founder James Mills, the platform aims to create a personalised experience for users, while also aiming to help boost footfall for the city’s hospitality and leisure scene.
Mr Mills said: “I’d always had the ambition to launch something that could benefit my home city of Leeds, and I wanted to do something to support our brilliant hospitality businesses, who are being attacked from every angle, whether that’s high energy costs, or significant changes to web-search facilities.
“We’re always told to ‘embrace AI’ so I set out on developing a business model that could support this and the footfall in the city centre.
“While we’ve launched in Leeds, it’s clear that the application of this technology is highly scalable.
“We’re ambitious and want to be the go-to provider of hospitality search, as we look to expand at pace. We want locals and visitors to explore beyond their usual spots, uncover hidden gems, and give businesses smarter ways to connect with their audience.”
As part of its launch, Urbanary is partnering with Leeds List to highlight some of the city’s best-loved and lesser-known venues.
A number of venues within the city have already joined the platform, with Escapism Bars and Chaophraya being the first to join prior to launch. Other local organisations in the city have also joined including Andy’s Man Club and Leeds Food Tours.
Mica Jones, head of sales at Escapism Bars, said: “When James approached us with the idea of Urbanary, we were intrigued by the idea of breathing some fresh life into the Leeds hospitality scene with the use of AI.
“It's a useful tool that we should all be using to our advantage.”
Kelly Summerton, sales manager at Chaophraya, added: “We’re delighted to join Urbanary as it launches in Leeds this year.
“As an exciting new platform utilising modern AI-driven technology, we hope it will help drive additional awareness of our restaurant among new guests and those who may not have visited for a while.”
Mr Mills added: “With 800,000 residents and more than 30 million visitors each year, Leeds represents an over £350m hospitality market, and Urbanary is designed to help the city’s venues attract new audiences, increase footfall and connect with people in a more personalised way.
“The initial response to this idea has been phenomenal and we’re looking forward to announcing a range of partnerships in the coming months in what is a vital time of year for the hospitality trade.”