Competition Sponsored By Future Travel Experience, JetBlue Technology Ventures

Future Travel Experience and JetBlue Technology Ventures have announced four finalists in the 2017 Start-up Competition and Showcase, a global start-up competition designed to help discover early-stage start-ups developing innovative concepts or products that aim to enhance the future passenger experience or ancillary revenue opportunities during the airport or inflight phases of travel.

The finalists will now advance to a Start-up Showcase at Future Travel Experience Global 2017 in Las Vegas September 6-8, where they will exhibit their products to an audience of 700+ senior attendees representing airlines, airports and other air transport and travel industry stakeholders. The winner will be chosen by audience vote and announced at the FTE Global Awards Ceremony.

2017 Start-up Competition and Showcase Finalists are:

Destygo (Paris, France) builds artificially intelligent chatbots for travel companies, giving travellers instant personalised offers and fast answers. Destygo’s mission is to create, build and improve powerful chatbots for the travel industry through its own technology and a dedicated team of chatbot specialists.
SeatAssignMate (New York) aims to help airlines and agencies increase ancillary revenue from email point of sales by building an interactive check-in app into travellers' inboxes. Through SeatAssignMate, travellers can purchase paid seats, select meals, and check-in bags whenever or wherever they open up their confirmation email, either via mobile device or on desktop.
SkyLights (San Francisco) is developing a virtual reality (VR) platform for inflight entertainment. SkyLights enables passengers to tune out of their environment by enjoying premium cinematic entertainment using VR headsets. Passengers can enjoy premium 2D, 3D or 180º cinematic entertainment on an IMAX-like wide-angle screen. Skylights integrates content licensing deals, secure software, headset hardware and ground operations.
TravelCar (Los Angeles) is a peer-to-peer car-sharing service that provides an affordable, trustworthy, and environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional car rental services at train stations and airports. Using TravelCar, car owners can park for free at the airport and earn money by renting their car to other travellers.

The winner of the Start-up Competition and Showcase will be announced at the FTE Global Awards Ceremony at the Gala Evening, taking place at Omnia, Caesars Palace on Thursday, 7 September.

(Source: Future Travel Experience news release)

FMI: www.futuretravelexperience.com/fte-global, JetBlueVentures.com