SkyHi

Subscription Service For Airline Tickets

Company Information

Website:

https://flyskyhi.com/

Sector:

Air Travel

Location:

Apple Valley, CA

SkyHi has built the first subscription service for commercial airline tickets.

For a monthly fee, members get access to low, flat-rate prices on air travel. Meanwhile, SkyHi’s algorithms gauge members’ travel patterns over time, and factor in historic prices and future price predictions to get them the best seat at a low price.

Air travel is an $871 billion market. But traditional travel booking is time-consuming, and constantly-changing prices make the process unpredictable.

More than 60% of U.S. travelers say they book flights impulsively, typically within one week of their trip. In fact, booking flights this close to the travel date is a $461 billion market.

The problem is, last-minute travelers tend to pay an average of 33% more for their tickets.

SkyHi solves this problem with a new way to book low-cost travel. Here’s how it works:

SkyHi members pay a $199 monthly fee. This service is geared primarily toward young professionals who need to fly at least twice per month.

After they pick a travel destination, they pay just $35, $75, or $120 per ticket depending on the flight’s distance. All tickets are one-way, and tickets can only be purchased for flights within 30 days.

Next, members pick a seat, book the flight, and receive a confirmation directly through the app. This confirmation will include a ticket that members can use to board the plane.

Unlike other booking platforms, SkyHi is the only one that offers members multiple routes to a destination at a fixed price, with no additional fees. Through its current business model, SkyHi achieves 25% margins on airline ticket sales, five times the industry average.

SkyHi launched its mobile platform in March 2018.

Following that, the company received legal clearance to book and issue tickets, as well as technical clearance to work with distribution channels.

Today, it offers flights traveling to and from 150 airports across North America and Europe. In addition, it has direct partnerships with several airlines, along with companies focused on travel and scheduling. The company also has a partnership with WeWork, which enables tenants to receive a discount when they sign up for SkyHi.

SkyHi has raised more than $1.1 million from investors
including Techstars, a notable startup accelerator.

The company has already achieved a $600,000 revenue run rate, and projects to reach $3 million in 2020. The company expects revenue to climb to $10 million in 2021, and to $40 million in 2022.

Revenue growth drivers include:

• Enabling members to book hotel stays, slated for 2020.

• Plans to help businesses book affordable group flights, slated for 2021.

• And plans to sell its customer data to airlines to improve route management. This is planned for 2022.

In the meantime, SkyHi will use funds raised from this round to grow its team, further develop its algorithms, and expand offerings to flights from Asia and South America.

Team Background

Vivek Poola - Co-Founder & CTO

Vivek has more than a decade’s worth of technology experience.

He began his career as a programmer analyst at the University of California, San Diego. From there, he started a website development business.

He then moved on to become Web Developer and Systems Administrator for anthro.is, a startup building a digital fitness platform for professional athletes.

Most recently, he was a co-founder of Tiny Docs, a healthcare-related startup that created a platform designed to educate families about healthy living.

Vivek earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego.

Rama Poola - Co-Founder & CEO

Prior to starting SkyHi, Rama was Lead Product Manager at Postlight, a computer software company focused on the design industry.

Before that, he was Vice President of Product for SFX Entertainment, a producer of live events and digital entertainment content. He moved into this role following seven years as Director of Arc90, a computer software subsidiary of SFX.

Rama earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Economics from NYU.

Neal Batra - Chief Marketing Officer

Neal joined SkyHi in January 2019.

Before that, he was an attorney at Ravi Batra, a New York-based law firm.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Iona College and a Law degree from Pace University.

Co-Investors

TechStars

Prominent accelerator for tech companies. Investments include Uber, ClassPass and Twilio.

Raising
$1.07 million
Committed
$275.566K (26%)
Current Valuation
$10 million Cap / 20% Discount
Min. Investment
$100
Deal Type
Title III
(For all investors)
Offering Type
SAFE
Finance History
  • $1.155 million
    2016-11-11
    Unknown
  • $1.235 million
    2016-09-07
    Unknown
Notable Investors
  • TechStars
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