Lincoln-based Travefy, an itinerary management and client communication platform for travel professionals, has acquired Los Angeles-based travel agent itinerary platform TripScope. The deal expands Travefy’s footprint in the travel professional space.
“For us, there are lots of wonderful outcomes from this transaction,” said David Chait, Travefy Founder and CEO. “The biggest one is that it provides us access to the customer base that TripScope has cultivated over the years.”
Chait spoke highly of TripScope and its founder, Katelyn O’Shaughnessy.
“We have always admired TripScope for their unique agency technology as well as the powerful relationships they’ve made across the industry,” he said. “We’re thrilled to deepen our relationship and welcome all TripScope users to the Travefy family.”
The deal included acquisition of TripScope’s technology platform for itinerary management, but that platform will be retired.
“TripScope software was a really wonderful platform for itinerary management tools,” Chait said. “While we have acquired their technology, it’s sunsetting. There are lots of great lessons to be learned as we continue to develop the Travefy platform.”
How Travefy works
Travefy Professional, the company’s flagship product, provides itinerary management and client collaboration for travel professionals and companies.
“We serve everything from independent operators to big companies like Travel and Transport,” Chait said. “We are a growing company in the travel professional space.”
Chait said Travefy will continue to operate with its current locations.
“There was no staff acquisition (from TripScope),” he said. “We continue to have staff in Lincoln, Omaha and New Jersey.”
Success in the Silicon Prairie
The fertile environment for startups in the Silicon Prairie has contributed to the success of Travefy, which launched in 2012.
“The greater Lincoln-Omaha-Nebraska startup environment is fantastic,” Chait said. “It has all the ingredients to help entrepreneurs be successful.”
What ingredients are those?
“Talent, great universities, support from government and the chambers, grant programs, investment capital from VC’s down to angel investors,” Chait said “We wouldn’t be here but for each piece of that community.”
As more startups emerge, the support system gets larger.
“We’re a company that is continuing on our path to grow, and we want to pay it forward with the lessons we’ve learned,” Chait said. “Having more and more companies that others can learn from helps drive others to jump into starting companies.”
Competing on a national scale
Chait said the fact that Travefy is succeeding in an industry with big players in big cities shows that companies in the Midwest can compete on a national and international scale.
“We’re a Nebraska company that’s in the travel industry,” he said. “We’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder with companies in Silicon Valley, Florida and New York City.”
There are definite advantages to being in outside the bigger locations.
“As a smaller community per capita, one of the wonderful outputs is that the density is very supportive,” Chait said. “You know who to call.”
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Rod Armstrong is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for AIM in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a regular contributor to Silicon Prairie News.
