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Last year’s travel industry has been a year of fundraising to “survive” the latest pandemic – assuming every entrepreneur has already had the opportunity to collect funds. Crunchbase’s most recent data indicates that both the number of funding rounds and the total dollar amount raised by venture-backed travel startups decreased this year.
However, as the adage goes, “in the middle of any tragedy lies an opportunity,” and we are convinced that many winners will emerge from the pandemic. We’ve compiled a list of 8 travel startups that are redefining and changing the travel industry and that we believe are worth monitoring in 2021.
Airalo
It can be aggravating to purchase international data plans while traveling. Buying a local SIM card can be time-consuming, and carriers such as AT&T often charge exorbitant fees for international data use. Airalo, the world’s first eSIM shop, is here to change that. Almost all new smartphones have an eSIM, a SIM card that is already integrated into the system. Airalo is an eSIM marketplace that enables smartphone users to purchase temporary mobile data plans while abroad. Airalo’s mobile data plans are entirely different from traditional mobile data plans, operating on a local network.
Hello Alfred
The Hello Alfred is a home management service that simplifies business travelers’ lives and residences when they are often on the move. The Hello Alfred app enables city dwellers to centralize laundry, washing, grocery shopping, and pet care so they are never left struggling to complete tasks while in and out of the home. Hello Alfred was founded in 2014 and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies. It recently expanded into collaborations with urban buildings that integrate the services from the start. Additionally, the app uses artificial intelligence to learn about users’ behaviors and expectations to provide them with a more personalized experience with each purchase.
Troop
Planning meetings and gatherings have become more complex. Troop compiles thousands of data points, allowing corporate travel managers and meeting planners to make objective destination selections rather than relying on subjective opinion. This travel startup’s platform optimizes destination selection based on various factors, including cost, travel time, ease of travel, visa requirements, and carbon footprint. The troop is now adding functions to the surface safety and protection information to resolve the risk component of the equation.
Smooss
Smooss assists travel companies (particularly airlines) in increasing revenue and improving the customer experience by using custom-built solutions built on top of the reservation systems. At the moment, this travel startup’s primary offerings are an upselling tool and a disruption recovery solution. Smooss facilitates effortless rebooking via its universal “Disruption Recovery” approach and a customized revenue opportunity through its Smooss Ancillary Platform.
Local Time
Local Time addresses the well-being of business travelers and low-impact packaging to effect a cultural change in traveling. The Vancouver-based startup develops driven packs of micronutrients that can be consumed before, during, and after flights to assist business travelers in rebalancing their bodies from the inside out.
Not only are their travel-inspired formulas made from organic ingredients, but their packaging is also compostable. The bio-based packaging material, predominantly composed of pulp cellulose, is certified compostable for residential and commercial settings. It is intended to biodegrade naturally and fully if disposed of in a home compost bin, an industrial composting plant, or an open landfill.
Local Time is the type of product that can serve as a beacon for those seeking to build a new business travel reality. Business travelers constantly seek ways to feel happier on the road while still being as sustainable as possible with their buying power. Local Time is the type of product that can serve as a lighthouse for those looking to create a new business travel reality.
Jayride
Jayride is a comparison website that enables you to compare the services of thousands of airport taxi, private transfer, and shuttle bus companies to find the best deal for getting to your destination. Suppose you’re traveling from your home to the airport or from the airport to a hotel, another terminal, a residential address, tourist attractions, or a cruise ship terminal. In that case, this is the transfer company that will provide you with pick-up and drop-off services to/from the airport. Jayride has partnered with over 3,000 transportation companies worldwide. This service is available to travelers in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania.
RubiQ
It is a Tel-Aviv-based startup that assists airlines in reducing call center load and streamlining the refund and rebooking processes for passengers. In these instances, automation should be the primary method used to improve the experience for both end-users and airline call centers. Additionally, RubiQ offers Airclues, a white-label mobile solution powered by artificial intelligence. It is constantly updated and enables passengers to track the flight’s schedule/status and rebook an alternate flight.
Sitata
Another corporation works admirably hard to handle disruptions. They have a website for you to use on your mobile. Before departure, travelers receive all necessary health and safety information. Additionally, real-time monitoring is available. Additionally, automatic safety check-ins are present to provide real-time assistance. As a result of the COVID outbreak, airlines are focusing their efforts on improving their services to mitigate trip disruptions. Sitata is an excellent example of this type of startup.
In Conclusion
After reading this article, we hope you’ll find inspiration and the strength to find the most relevant and helpful travel startups for your trip in 2020 amid the pandemic. These travel startups are beneficial for those who love to travel or those travel startups who are yet to be put on the stage. Suppose you’re one of them, and you are slowly begging to rise with your development process, but due to your inexperience, you are looking at the previous startup failures and are scared that your one will fail miserably too. How can you avoid that?
In that case, we can provide a direct specificity of your product development process. Over the past 10+ years, we have been involved in numerous startups and entrepreneurs that have been actively engaged in developing unique digital products. All of them have been successfully raised to a solid stage when they can efficiently labor productive results. How did they accomplish that with us? Everything has begun with our technological flow or, more precisely, with the Product Development Strategy Session. It is an accessible business consulting service where our experts will produce a general plan covering the future product development and the action plan with high-level features. Already got interested? Leave your project details below, and we will contact you in under 24 hours.
