Spotnana

Spotnana is a travel technology company that provides a cloud-based platform it describes as "Travel-as-a-Service," connecting travel buyers (corporations and travelers), travel sellers (travel management companies, online travel agencies, technology companies, financial services firms and leisure agencies) and travel providers (airlines, hotels, rail and ground transportation) through a single technology stack. The company positions its work as rebuilding travel industry infrastructure that it says still depends on decades-old systems such as the text-based Passenger Name Record.

The platform comprises an online booking tool with self-service capabilities, event and guest travel workflows and travel-manager tooling; TMC automation that puts agents on the same platform and data as travelers, with automated workflows, AI tools and contact-center capabilities; a booking engine built on configurable microservices that handles exchanges, split payments and unused ticket management and removes the need for separate mid-office tools; an independent system of record for policies, profiles, bookings, trips and negotiated rates, with an order management system independent of the PNR designed for the industry's Offers and Orders transition, plus embedded business intelligence; and a content engine that integrates GDSs, NDC APIs, direct connections, low-cost carriers, OTAs, PSSs and CRSs, normalizing and de-duplicating content. Open, API-first interfaces support white labeling, embedding and pre-built integrations with expense platforms, HR systems, payment providers, carbon calculators, duty-of-care providers, price assurance tools and meetings and events tools.

The software is deployed as a single global instance with localized interfaces, multi-currency shopping and agents able to service travelers from any location. Named partners and customers referenced on the company's site include Direct Travel, Lufthansa Group, Brex, Solutions Travel, Marriott International and Ciena.

Founding story

Founder Sarosh Waghmar previously ran WTMC, described as the first travel management company to build direct connections to global airlines at the highest level of certification. Encountering the limits of the travel industry's legacy infrastructure while trying to innovate there, he started Spotnana in 2019 in New York to build a travel platform from a blank sheet of paper using cloud architectures, the proliferation of content APIs and emerging AI capabilities.

Business model

Spotnana licenses its travel platform to travel sellers, corporations, travel suppliers and technology companies, which can use it as a standalone product or consume components via APIs, embed or white label it. As described at the time of its Series B, the technology is delivered on a pay-as-you-go, consumption-based model priced on usage fees or API calls, with no service, technology or implementation fees.

Consumption-based pricing tied to usage or API calls, with customers paying only for what they use and no separate service, technology or implementation fees, as described by the company in 2022.

Traction

The company says it powers travel for thousands of companies together with its partners, and had more than 200 employees worldwide as of July 2022. Publicly referenced relationships include Direct Travel, Lufthansa Group, Brex, Solutions Travel, Marriott International and customer Ciena.

Latest developments

Spotnana has introduced an AI architecture within its travel platform after a year of internal development, and together with Direct Travel, Marriott International and the Global Business Travel Association released research on artificial intelligence, TMC innovation and global program management, and hotel distribution in managed corporate travel.