Where are they now? Checking in with our Hot 25 Startups for 2021

Time flies, and it’s been three years since PhocusWire named our Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2021. Since then the travel industry has rebounded with a surge, thanks to revenge travel after the pandemic - and so much more.

As we gear up to announce our Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2024, PhocusWire is checking in with companies that were named on our lists over the past few years.

In our class of 2021, some startups have gone through changes, such as Smooss, which was acquired by Hopper, Volara, which was sold to Uniguest, and Entrada Insights, which rebranded as Zartico.

Others are traveling the same path. We checked in with a selection of those, including Troop, Anyplace, Buser, Flyr for Hospitality, Tripkicks, Kyte and Zamna.

Troop

Troop (formerly Troop Travel) is a platform focused on meeting planning. Answers from founder Dennis Vilovic.

In the last three years, our company has …  rapidly expanded our global remote team from six to 70 employees, distributed across Europe, the United States and APAC. We have launched Troop One, a unified meeting planning and group travel logistics platform for planning meetings, managing travel logistics and tracking costs. In the past year, we have enabled our customers to save $31 million, 176,000 hours of travel time and avoid 15,658 tons of carbon emissions from planned meetings. In order to support this market response and fuel the company's continued growth and innovation we have raised more than $20 million in investments.

Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … there is so much support across our industry, I have met and collaborated with multiple travel buyers, all keen to help startups and new innovations succeed. Securing your first enterprise customer seems daunting, but in my experience travel buyers from many large companies have been approachable and open to providing feedback and keen to help from the beginning. Knowing that I could approach these experienced travel buyers earlier would have been helpful in getting more in-depth insights and feedback from the outset.

The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … overcoming the administrative requirements of large enterprises when it comes to working with early stage startups. The procurement processes within enterprises are vigorous, taking a huge amount of time and effort, particularly when you are a startup new to the market. Persistence and patience is key. 

My advice for early-stage founders is … to solve a problem you are really passionate about. Don't start a business for fame or financial benefits. Start it because you want to solve a real problem. Only then will you have the chance to be successful.

For the coming year, our priorities are … to further build out the Troop One meetings platform with more functionality to bring planning, booking, management and expense into one platform. We want to be the market leader in this area, bringing the tools and innovation to enable every company to plan meetings better.

Anyplace 

Anyplace is a platform that works to simplify the apartment rental process - making it similar to booking a hotel room. Answers from co-founder and CEO Satoru Steve Naito. 

In the last three years, our company has … pivoted from a marketplace model to a property management model that offers remote work-friendly accommodations with high-speed internet and office setup. We currently manage over 100 units in four cities across the U.S.: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and San Diego. Our revenue growth is over 100% year-over-year and we expect to achieve a $10 million revenue run rate early next year.

Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … regular accommodations such as hotels and Airbnb are not designed for work and usually have slow internet and small desks, which are not comfortable for long-term business travelers and digital nomads.

The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … the pandemic cut our marketplace revenue in half or less. However, it did make remote work more common and led us to pivot from the marketplace model to our current business model. Now we are growing much faster than our marketplace business.

My advice for early-stage founders is … don't hesitate to make major changes in your business if you see a great opportunity. Pivoting is not easy, but it is worth the pain if it results in rapid growth of your product.

For the coming year, our priorities are … to expand into major cities in the U.S. and become the leading hospitality brand for remote workers.

Buser

Buser is a bus booking service. Answers from co-founder and CEO Marcelo Abritta. 

In the last three years, our company has … raised our series C in 2021, led by Lightrock. Despite the challenges imposed on the travel sector by the pandemic, we grew 10 times from 2020 to 2022. During 2023 we focused on proving the financial sustainability of our business model. 

Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … you can always do the same thing spending less, if not a lot less. 2023 was the most educational year of our trajectory. I look back to some of the capital allocations we have made and I think we were crazy. But then maybe if we had not been crazy, we would not have reached the scale we have today. 

The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … the shift from growth to profitability was extremely demanding. I would say we were a little late to act, but when we finally decided to do so, we were brutal. This has put us in a very good position in terms of funding, but not without many scars because so many things had to change dramatically when we shifted from growing 50-80% to having a flat year focusing on everything other than the top line.

My advice for early-stage founders is … Every time my intuition was strong about something, it was right. There are some decisions that require data and analysis, but sometimes our brain has already done that calculation in the background and our intuition is trying to tell us the answer. Especially when it is something nobody would like to do. 

For the coming year, our priorities are … growth trajectory, taking lessons from the financial discipline we have acquired. We will certainly have our first profitable quarter and perhaps our first profitable year, while growing 30 to 40% vs. 2022. We are still only scratching the surface of the opportunity we tap into. 

Flyr for Hospitality

Flyr for Hospitality (formerly Pace) optimizes operations for hospitality operators. Answers from CEO Jens Munch.

In the last three years, our company has … taken a leap to moving the Pace Revenue platform into the world of commercial data. On the revenue management front, we have continued to break new ground, pushing the boundary on forecast accuracy and granularity. We have enabled a new way of approaching restrictions that does away with the limitation of crude hurdle rates. We are actively driving proof-of-value and A/B testing as a way for the industry to move beyond request for proposals, to genuinely data-driven decisions on their revenue management system (RMS) partner. Alongside these important platform expansions, Pace Revenue was acquired by Flyr last year, and we have since transitioned our brand to Flyr for Hospitality.

Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … what is most surprising about life is not the unfolding of events, as they can more or less be anticipated with experience. What has surprised me more is how deeply we are affected and changed by the challenges we set for ourselves – more so than we would have ever anticipated as we set out on the journey.

The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … hospitality and travel technology remains an immature and small market compared to other industries. This is due to a combination of low availability of capital with challenging go-to-market conditions. This means that startups will grow their revenues slower than they expect, and they will find it difficult to access the venture capital required for growth.

My advice for early-stage founders is … you need to be prepared for five to 10 years of indefatigable, single-minded pursuit of your goals. So be careful when understanding and framing your goals and your motivations. Superficial motivations will not endure through the challenges you will face. A good example is the desire to make money. As most people know, there are easier, safer and less painful ways to make money than starting a company.

For the coming year, our priorities are … our mission is to build the leading commercial decision platform for hospitality. In my assessment, we needed around six to seven years to build the foundation, hone our direction and strategy and bring together the right core team to execute on this. Building the foundation takes longer than one might think. But we are now ready to start delivering on our vision with more speed and urgency than ever.

Tripkicks

Tripkicks is an add-on to corporate travel programs that delivers insights and guidance to business travelers. Answers from CEO Jeff Berk.

In the last three years, our company has … listened to the feedback of our customers to strengthen our product and adapt our technologies so that we can address the newly defined priorities of corporate travel programs. Today we are honored to partner with clients that represent industry-leading business travel programs.           

Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … how important delegation and empowerment truly is. Sometimes the best thing a CEO can do is to get out of their own way and let the team do what they do best. 

The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … prioritizing our executions that solve the problems of today, while ensuring adaptability and investment towards the challenges our clients will face tomorrow. 

My advice for early-stage founders is … having the right team is essential. If you think you can do this alone, you can't. Surround yourself with people you respect, admire and who are different than you. And then listen to them.

For the coming year, our priorities are … to aggressively build partnerships with suppliers, technologies and services that connect and empower the business traveler with what they need to be successful.

Kyte

Kyte is a B2B that offers simplified access to airline application programming interfaces (APIs). Answers from CEO Alice Ferrari.

In the last three years, our company has … signed up 10 global airlines and completely standardized airline integrations for low cost and new distribution capability (NDC) carriers, proving that with Kyte travel management companies and other sellers can take less than 30 days to directly connect to multiple airlines with all ancillaries and functionalities.

Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … there is a big difference between a co-founder and an employee with equity.

The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … slow sales cycles for airlines and travel sellers.

My advice for early-stage founders is … to do a lot of homework before starting a proper fund raise or you will burn many opportunities.

For the coming year, our priorities are … growing our API marketplace both with airline direct connects and users of the Kyte API from the travel seller side.

Zamna

Zamna is a blockchain identification system. Answers from co-founder and CEO Irra Ariella Khi.

In the last three years, our company has … broken into North America with our first client — WestJet — expanding our tech from two to 110 international destinations. We also partnered with the largest airline consortium in the Middle East/North Africa region — Arab Air Carriers Organization, representing 30-plus member airline clients and launched in Latin America starting with Mexico’s largest airline, Volaris, as our client.

Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … that airlines will survive COVID but the industry will change forever and our clients would become more like startups.

The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … communicating our product into the legacy travel market — we get strong product market fit every time, but airlines are so different in their post-COVID survival that we adapt and tailor client-level versus industry-level approach more than ever.

My advice for early-stage founders is … always be raising/closing: either money from investors or commercials from clients. It’s like fuel - if you run out, you’re done.

For the coming year, our priorities are … regional dominance in current client markets and raising Series A.