Air and rail upgrades aren't as obtainable as they used to be but technology is aiming to change that. We spoke to the founder and CEO of SeatFrog Iain Griffin to find out what plans it has.
When were you launched?
September 2017
How many people are working for the company?
35 but the company is rapidly expanding with 11 roles being hired now and more to come.
Sum up what your company/product does in one sentence
Seatfrog is a technology company revolutionising rail and airline upgrades through live bidding for seats on mobile right up to departure.
Why is it unique?
We are the world's first mobile technology enabling passengers to upgrade at the tap of a button, right up until the time of departure. Our technology automates everything end to end, identifying and unlocking significant revenue opportunities unlike the manual, legacy processes that exist across the industry today which have struggled to monetise last-minute ancillary revenues effectively.
What problem does it solve?
Every year billions of pounds in unrealised ancillary revenue passes by because of manual, fragmented upgrade processes. We set out a year ago to prove there is a much better way and we've done that. Our clients' experience uplifts of over 114% in revenue because Seatfrog's technology gives travellers an intuitive, mobile-first experience that fits with their busy lives.
What platforms is it available on/can integrate with?
Seatfrog has established integrations so the hard work has been done, it's just a case of our clients plugging in our API which is available for airlines, rail and travel partners on our waitlist to optimise the upgrade process.
What markets is it available in?
Currently in the UK but expanding across Europe and other key global markets with a number of partners currently in implementation.
What are your growth plans?
This is just the start. Seatfrog is working with a number of TMCs and a dedicated product will be released which will allow a business to contribute towards the upgrade spend. It will be similar to the consumer experience because it will also accept loyalty points. We're bringing some really exciting new capability to market in the coming months and expanding our engineering and data science teams to continually be at the forefront.