Amadeus is expanding Amadeus Ventures to help travel tech start-ups in APAC starting 2020.
Amadeus Ventures will invest in early stage start-ups and will provide funding, industry expertise, technology, and customer reach to its portfolio companies, executing business ideas that will, directly and indirectly, improve the experiences of travellers.
The region thrives with start-ups with a number of fintech and ride-hailing unicorns and more than USD over USD 7 billion has flowed in Southeast Asia in the last four years.
Amadeus Ventures was created in 2014 as an innovation vehicle to drive collaboration with the start-up ecosystem. Amadeus has introduced more than 150 start-ups to its business units and has developed more than 20 joint projects with its portfolio companies like Refundit, Volantio and Dawex.
“Our main aim in expanding Amadeus Ventures across APAC is to encourage and nurture innovation in the travel industry. We not only offer funding but also our industry expertise and network to help young start-ups achieve their strategic and commercial goals,” said Suzanna Chiu, head of Amadeus Ventures.
The Amadeus Ventures representative for the region will be Stephanie Strunk who will search for the latest innovations in travel tech start-ups.
“Travel start-ups across APAC are frequently disrupting the industry, challenging the way we think about innovation. To keep up with the pace of change, funding for travel start-ups is increasing at the same rate – reaching record highs. With China leading in this space, we don’t expect the rest of APAC will be that far behind, working on new solutions and ideas to enhance the overall traveller experience,” she said.
