EasyJet and Founders Factory announce Flio and LuckyTrip as the first travel startups for their accelerator programme
EasyJet has announced the first startups chosen to be part of its Travel Tech accelerator programme with London-based startup accelerator and incubator Founders Factory.
The successful startups are Flio, the global airport app and LuckyTrip app. As part of the programme the firms will receive hands on support from both Founders Factory and EasyJet for six months to bolster their growth.
Applications are currently being accepted for the remaining three places for this year.
Flio boasts a range of maps, shopping deals, airport tips and departure information to help passengers navigate airports.
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It was founded by internet entrepreneur Stephan Uhrenbacher, whose startup Qype was sold to Yelp for $50m, Brian Collie, the ex retail boss of BAA and Andy Watson, formerly of Spotify.
Watson said: "Our goal is to make a passengers time at the airport less stressful and more enjoyable. Working with easyJet and being supported by Founders Factory brings us a step closer to achieving this by extending our reach significantly, raising awareness of Flio and the great benefits and functionality it has to offer."
LuckyTrip was started by London brothers Tiff and Alex Burns, and allows would-be travellers to set their budget and quickly find a suitable holiday in a single tap. Each trip gives the user somewhere to go and the cheapest flight to get there, along with somewhere to stay and something to do.
James Millett, director of digital & marketing at EasyJet, said: “Both companies have strong mobile first propositions in travel inspiration and airport experience that are already getting real traction with customers, have fantastic initiatives in their pipelines and passionate, talented entrepreneurs at the helm."
Our five-year commitment to Founders Factory is all about putting disruptive thinking right at the heart of our digital activities to continue making things easier for customers at all stages of their journey with us.
EasyJet became the sixth corporate backer of Founders Factory when it announced a strategic investment back in October.
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As part of the partnership, EasyJet and Founders Factory will support the growth of five early-stage travel tech startups and co-create two new travel firms within the incubator programme every year for five years.
Henry Lane Fox, chief executive and co-founder of Founders Factory, said: "Our in-house operations team will be providing an intense, bespoke support programme to assist with the growth of Flio and LuckyTrip, something which, when combined with the industry knowledge and audience scale of easyJet, will mean an unparalleled offer for these startups.