If you dread catching flights during the holiday season, you’re not alone. Forget marveling at the wonder that flies; Getting through the airport is still very difficult, and that’s where the startup is based in Atlanta Travelist I can help.
There are several aspects to what the company does, including an AI-powered chatbot called VERA. But “at the simplest level,” her team told me, “the Travelsist platform connects travelers who need help getting through the airport with a Travelsistant company that provides concierge and personal assistant services that help get them from their flight to the side of the plane safely and on time.”
Founded by former host Veronica Woodruff, the startup was featured in TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield earlier this year. At the time, she highlighted how she was part of a growing group of startups making life easier for individuals with disabilities; But there are many people Travelsist can help, including working mothers like Woodruff.
“I arrived at the airport one day on a cross-country flight and realized I had left my daughter’s stroller at home,” she recalls.
From parents to seniors to first-time travelers, there are many who can use their hands, and there is more than wheelchair or stroller services that can make airports more accessible; That’s why Travelsist also provides passengers with “route assistance, or other physical or navigational support in what is often a very stressful and chaotic part of their journey.”
backstage
While Travelsist’s end users are passengers, the startup’s clients are airports and airlines (with a few exceptions where travelers can request assistance and pay for it themselves).
The shift to B2B2C makes sense: these companies have a legal obligation to help people with disabilities, for example, but this is often expensive and difficult, which is why they are willing to outsource to a third party like Travelsist.
Travelsist doesn’t simply find people who can help; It also takes advantage of technology to make the entire process more efficient. For example, the platform reduces wait time for help by pinpointing where it’s needed, Woodruff told me.
While the company received international attention, its initial focus was on the United States, starting with Atlanta — not just Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Travelsist is now able to help travelers flying to and from the two largest airports in its hometown. Since Disrupt, it has closed a partnership with DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK), which Woodruff described to me as “a popular regional airport in the Atlanta area that serves a lot of private flights and VIP travelers.”
It’s a natural progression for Travelsist to expand its audience, and it has. Since its inception four years ago and subsequent launch in 2020, the company wrote in a document shared with me by head of product Dino Decipedes, “Travelsist’s value proposition has evolved from leasing baby gear to traveling mothers, to an enterprise software solution to solve human capital headaches for busier airports and planes.” In the world.
When speaking to Woodruff in person, the aforementioned human element comes into focus, and it becomes clear how passionate she is about not only helping travelers, but also providing Travelsistants with fulfilling and potentially life-changing business opportunities.
“What I love most about being able to offer people the opportunity to work at an airport-based company is that they have the opportunity to meet someone outside their front door. There are so many people from so many different walks of life, that you never know how a conversation might go.” 10 minutes can impact or change your life; “This person could be someone who can offer you a better job than Travelsist,” Woodruff said.
In the meantime, Travelsist aims to make sure these 1,099 workers “know they are valued and valued,” and that they enjoy good working conditions. “We pride ourselves on being a technology company first and foremost, but the number one thing is that we are bringing a new culture to the industry, where people can have more control over their time, earn good wages and train with… [new] skills.”
The Travelsist employee app is there to support these workers by filling them in with specific details about a traveler’s request and location, while also providing them with training and reminders. For example, making sure the passenger has their seatbelts properly fastened before lifting them, and politely asking for permission – a welcome change, considering that traveling by plane with a disabled person often ends up getting incapacitated. Stripping a person of his humanity.
If a company runs out of Travelsistants, they can be counted on My panda, an Atlanta-based startup (PANDA stands for Personal Assistants Next Door). The hotel is run by a good friend of hers, Woodruff said. “We have an agreement where I can onboard their employees: If I need them, they come and work for us. Atlanta is a beautiful place to build because of those relationships.
Alongside its core team and Travelsistants, Travelsist also has around 25 contractors and “a lot of people who advise us and meet with us”. The company was part of the first women-focused cohort in the Techstars Founder Catalyst program based in Atlanta and conducted in partnership with JP Morgan; It also received support and awards from several other organizations. That’s part of being from Atlanta, Woodruff rejoiced. “Atlanta is a very practical city when you’re building something that people believe in; people want us to succeed.”
Away from Atlanta, the company was flying relatively under the radar until recently, when it received some provisional patents that made the team more confident about its prospects against competitors.
AI is part of its strategy: At TechCrunch Disrupt, it launched VERA, a chatbot that can answer travelers’ questions about flight schedules, airport shops and restaurants, security line wait times, parking instructions, airport and TSA rules, business hours, and books. Lee Team: “Much more.”
For airports and airlines, a chatbot is another opportunity to improve traveler satisfaction, which they can track alongside other metrics in a custom data dashboard provided by Travelsist.
This value proposition seems to resonate. “We are on track to close 12-15 new airports in the first half of 2024, which will allow us to serve more passengers end-to-end – at both the departure airport and the arrival airport,” Woodruff told me.
Travelsist has already raised some $850,000 in funding to implement its plans, including investment from The Fearless Fund and Grant from Black Parents Foundation. But it’s understandably seeking more, and is currently raising a $5 million funding round that it hopes to close by the end of the year. This will be timely, as travel issues will be on the minds of many at this time of year.