A major airline group has announced it is investing in two exciting tech startups.
On the back of its Hangar 51 accelerator programme, International Airlines Group (IAG) has picked Esplorio and Vchain to invest in.
Esplorio offers an app which builds amazing content automatically to create stunning journals. It checks people into destinations, without the need of roaming data, to produce rich content for the user. While Vchain develops blockchain technologies which speeds up the airport process by correcting errors made by passengers in information documents supplied in advance of flying – currently 50% of travellers make errors when filling out forms submitted prior to departure.
The pair will work with IAG, the owner of British Airways, to advance their products and receive financing backing from the airline group’s multimillion pound investment fund.
Stephen Scott, IAG’s head of global innovation, said: “Hangar 51 has been a fantastic opportunity to work on business challenges together, combining IAG’s industry expertise with the start-ups’ speed and agility. The two companies we are investing in have the potential to add great value, rich content to our customers and operational efficiencies. This has been our first global accelerator programme and it will definitely not be our last.”
