Amadeus, through its the corporate venture arm Amadeus Ventures, has invested in FLYR, a San Francisco-based startup that forecasts future airfare volatility through complex data analysis.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
FLYR is the latest addition to Amadeus Ventures’ portfolio that includes startups such us bluesmart, BookingPal, Yapta, Olset and Eva (Expert Virtual Agent).
Amadeus was also one of the investors in FLYR’s Series A funding of US$8 million, which it secured in January this year, led by venture capitalist, entrepreneur and Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel.
FLYR’s core product is FareKeep, which allows travellers to lock in the price of a ticket and protect it from increases for a fee of about US$20 or more. This gives travellers more time to organise their trip before completing the (fare) booking.
FLYR’s FareKeep allows travellers to lock in the price of a ticket . (Image credit: scyther5/iStock)
“With machine learning and algorithms inspired by the financial services industry, FLYR helps OTAs, metasearch and airline sites to dynamically price the fee for holding a fare based on how likely it is that a price may change,” a statement from Amadeus describes how the startup works.
According to FLYR, up to 30% of 100 fare locks are converted into a booking.
“We are excited to support different customers’ innovation strategies and growth with FareKeep, our fare protection solution, and to benefit from Amadeus’ scale and reach to further increase uptake of our products by airlines, OTAs and metasearch sites,” said Jean Tripier, CEO of FLYR.
The startup will use the fresh funds from Amadeus to develop new products.
It is currently working on two new products. The first is a credit check free split payment solution, which allows sellers or providers to offer travellers the option to pay for an airline ticket or hotel room in several instalments.
The second is a post-booking price guarantee, which promises to refund a traveller if the airfare drops after they have completed a booking.
• Featured image credit: AndreyPopoviStock
