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.
London-based StateZero Labs, the world’s first dedicated Blockchain Lab for startups, will be opening its doors to six selected startups as part of its first cohort in January 2019.
Twigdoo offers a lead management service for businesses - a service which engages and converts leads whilst providing a high quality sales experience
Artomatix - The Dublin based startup that's using AI to help 3D artists create...
The startup that helps media companies to leverage user context data without exposing personal data...
IGO Adventures organise a series of multi-disciplined, physical challenges in some of the world’s most spectacular & remote wildernesses. Now they are looking to raise investment.
The no-bullshit-business coach and founder of consultancy firm RenOC, Karen Kwong, shares her top tips for getting your business back on track in 2019.
SpareFare - The online platform and marketplace which enables people to sell their non refundable flights, holidays or hotels.
Bidooh, the world’s first facial analysis, digital billboard software platform on the blockchain, agrees contract to roll out 10k real-time digital advertising screens in South Korea
Currently in private beta, Claimer wants to be app for R&D tax credits helping businesses to easily get money back from their R&D spend.
Launchpad, the innovative, post-graduate incubation and acceleration programme developed by Falmouth University in Cornwall, are on the hunt for their next cohort...
Published on: 26th August 2018
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Blockchain lab for startups StateZero Labs to offer £50k equity-free 15th Nov 2018 London-based StateZero Labs, the world’s first dedicated Blockchain Lab for startups, will be opening its doors to six selected startups as part of its first cohort in January 2019.
- UK scaling startups sort for Upscale Tech Nation programme 5th Nov 2018 UK-wide scaling startups take note! This free programme, care of Tech Nation is aimed at further accelerating the growth of your business.
- Chancellor’s ‘little extras’ will not undo 8 years of cuts to public services, says TUC 29th Oct 2018 Commenting on the 2018 Budget Statement, which set out the government’s spending plans up to 2024, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady had this to say...
- NI Propel Pre-Accelerator countdown begins 26th Oct 2018 If you are an early-stage startup or entrepreneur based in Northern Ireland, you better be quick if you want to apply for the next IGNITE lead Propel Pre-Accelerator programme.
