Seatfrog - upgraded travel made easy

by Startacus Admin

Seatfrog are aiming to make upgraded travel a painless, even pleasurable process, with their app that allows users to bid in an auction for an upgraded seat.
Sometimes, we like a bit of luxury when we travel. Sometimes, we only decide this after we’ve booked our seat in economy class next to the livestock. Unfortunately, not everyone we travel with is as accommodating to our whims as we would like, and the process of upgrading is not always a simple or inexpensive one.
With offices in London, Tokyo, and Sydney, Seatfrog is a startup that wants to make the process of upgrading at the last minute a painless, even pleasurable and fun one. The core function of the Seatfrog app is to allow users to bid in an auction for an upgraded seat.
The fewer people using Seatfrog on your plane, train, or automobile, the more likely you are to get into a luxury leather seat next to the businesspeople for a steal. In turn, this will increase word of mouth and bring more users to the app, wanting to get an upgrade for a pittance. And then the auction begins in earnest!
Similar to eBay, there is an option to ‘Upgrade Now’ without bidding, for a set price. If disaster should befall you and someone else outbids you for a seat, the app will notify you by push notification of another upgrade. This will be a straight sell rather than another auction, but it means you can pretend it wasn’t you who lost the auction because £16 was just too rich for your blood.
Seatfrog says that the scale of the opportunity in air and rail is huge. They say that, annually, more than 37 million premium seats are empty across the top 30 airlines. Across the top seven European rail providers, it’s 480 million. That’s a lot of bidding.
Seatfrog is currently live with only London North Eastern Railway - previously Virgin - but with 5 or 6 more partners coming soon. It is a simple, useful app that we think, with their recent £4.5m Series A funding round led by Octopus Ventures, will get a lot of mileage.
If you like the sound of this travel tech startup, you might want to read up on:
- Early-stage startup CityRadar aims to track and increase tourism consumer spend
- Sherpr - The travel startup that's making shipping sports equipment a doddle
-
TravaPlan wants to make business travel management a one-stop pursuit
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Over 100 organisations come together via The Micro Business Alliance to help provide a voice for the UK's startups, micro businesses and small businesses.

The lowdown on London-based hearing wellness startup Mumbli and its mission to help businesses provide inclusive spaces for all hearing abilities and preferences.

Tech Nation calls for tangible support to secure capital, talent, growth and exits needed to accelerate the growth of UK tech in decade ahead.

Glasgow-based This is Milk seeks investment for Neve Learning, its cloud-based Ed-Tech platform that has inclusivity and accessibility at its core.

With the UK facing a clear digital skills gap, Amy Caton, Digital Talent and Impact Senior Manager at BT Group shares some insights on what businesses should do to close that divide.

The lowdown on Berlin-based Beazy and its innovative solution that helps teams to plan, produce and deliver creative content and helps businesses to connect with talented content creators.

The lowdown on Fluffy, the app offering dog training, 24/7 vet messaging and insurance to give pet owners peace of mind and support them with their pet care responsibilities.

Huckletree's new Web3 HQ aims to put London’s West End at the forefront of Britain’s tech superpower ambitions.

Leading sports marketing platform, OpenSponsorship announces move into music sector, the first new vertical industry for the trans-Atlantic martech business.

Kingussie High School scoops first place for Junior and Senior categories at this year’s Growing Future Assets Competition.
Published on: 26th August 2018
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.







- Micro Business Alliance launches to represent 75% of the UK’s businesses 28th Mar 2023 Over 100 organisations come together via The Micro Business Alliance to help provide a voice for the UK's startups, micro businesses and small businesses.
- Tech Nation report reveals UK Tech could quadruple in value by 2032 with right conditions 23rd Mar 2023 Tech Nation calls for tangible support to secure capital, talent, growth and exits needed to accelerate the growth of UK tech in decade ahead.
- Neurodiverse learning and training platform Neve shares major six-figure investment opportunity 22nd Mar 2023 Glasgow-based This is Milk seeks investment for Neve Learning, its cloud-based Ed-Tech platform that has inclusivity and accessibility at its core.
- Huckletree opens new London hub for tech companies pioneering Web3 solutions 16th Mar 2023 Huckletree's new Web3 HQ aims to put London’s West End at the forefront of Britain’s tech superpower ambitions.