Aviation Thought Leader and Author Backs Travacoin
- CEO of SimpliFlying and author of SOAR to invest in award-winning blockchain payment system for air travel industry
Travacoin, which has developed a payment platform that enables airlines to save time and money by using a blockchain-based token for refunds and compensation, has today announced Shashank Nigam, a global airline thought leader, as an investor and advisor to the company.
While the details of the investment are not being disclosed, Shashank Nigam will receive a minority equity stake in the company in return for a cash consideration and time commitment over the coming 12 months. He will also join the company’s Board of Directors in due course.
Shashank Nigam is the founder and CEO of SimpliFlying, one of the world’s leading aviation marketing firms, having worked with over 90 aviation clients in the last ten years. His new book on airline marketing, SOAR, is an Amazon bestseller that’s shaking up the industry and inspiring other industries to learn from the best airlines.
He is also the youngest winner of the Global Brand Leadership Award and has addressed senior executives globally from Chile to China.
Travacoin was established in 2016 by Brian Whelan, a seasoned entrepreneur who has worked in and around the aviation sector for nearly 15 years. The company is headquartered at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin and is supported by Enterprise Ireland.
Travacoin founder and CEO, Brian Whelan said, “We are delighted to have a person of Shashank’s stature and experience come on board with Travacoin. He is a genuinely innovative thinker and his ideas and perspectives are also rooted in solid and practical experience, based on over ten years of working with airlines all over the world.”
He added, “Shashank will bring invaluable insights into effective communication between airline and passengers and the encouragement from a person of his standing in the industry will provide a significant boost to our progress.”
Shashank Nigam said, “Travel delay compensations is a billion dollar industry that hurts the airlines, the airports and the passengers. When Brian shared with me how he’s planning to break the status quo with Travacoin, I immediately saw the disruptive potential of the business. The idea behind Travacoin is an exciting one with great potential to effect change for good for the industry.”
He added, “Brian and his team have done well to develop it this far and I believe I can add real value by helping to shape their plans to bring them to the next stage. Moreover, Brian has been at this for over three years – grit is a key quality for any entrepreneur to succeed!.”
ENDS
16 April 2019
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: +353 1 716 3712 or Brian Whelan, CEO, Travacoin, t: +353 1 716 3500 or e: brian@travacoin.com.
Editors Notes
Travacoin is an IATA award winning, start-up which has built a blockchain based payment platform which allows airlines refund and compensate passengers when there is a flight delay, using a blockchain based token rather than cash. Passengers will be informed of delays and paid swiftly with this token, or “Travacoin”. They will be facilitated to purchase new flights with the issuing airline or others in the network, as well as a range of other purchases including accommodation, car rental, duty free and other retail opportunities, as the network expands. Passengers will also be facilitated to donate some or all of their windfall to charities and convert a portion of it to cash in their local currency. www.travacoin.com
Shashank Nigam is a globally sought-after consultant, speaker and thought leader on airline branding and customer engagement strategy. His impassioned and honest perspectives on airline marketing have found their way to over 100 leading media outlets, including the BBC, CNBC, Reuters and Bloomberg, and into leading publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. His work recently resulted in Harvard Business Review case study on SimpliFlying.
He writes a dedicated monthly column in Flight’s Airline Business, challenging the typical assumptions about airline marketing. He hosts a popular Live daily show on Facebook and Twitter discussing aviation marketing, entrepreneurship and work culture.
He studied Information Systems Management and Business Management at Singapore Management University and Carnegie Mellon University. Born in India, raised in Singapore, he now lives with his wife and two young daughters in Toronto.
At NovaUCD, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, we nurture and support new high-tech and knowledge-intensive companies, such as Travacoin as part of UCD’s research and innovation mission. NovaUCD has supported over 360 companies and early-stage ventures. Supported companies have attracted over €760 million of investment and currently employ over 1,040 people directly. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx. http://www.novaucd.ie