Itilite – Helping Companies and Employees save on Travel!
Congratulations to InstaOffice member Itilite, for securing funding from Matrix and other partners!
Mayank and Anish are colleagues from Myntra and Mckinsey. While Mayank is a product of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Delhi Anish is from IIM Lucknow and IIT Kharagpur. “After finishing my engineering from IIT Delhi and MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad, I worked at McKinsey for a long time. It was during my time as head of product development that I met my Co-founder. We help companies create and implement a travel rewards program. Our USP is that we help companies reduce their travel cost, and we help travelers earn attractive rewards for choosing cost-conscious travel options.”
When asked about their name, this is what Mayank had to say – “ITILITE stands for ‘light itineraries’. Our vision is to make business travel lighter – more convenient and rewarding for both travelers and their employers. Hence our name!”
The travel and tourism startup space has been abuzz over the last week with over 75% growth and $85 million in venture capital funding. This sudden flow in funds have provided a shot in the arm to industries including financial technology, food, logistics, education and travel. This massive growth stemmed primarily due to the large interest being generated in this field. With the radical rise of AirBnB, Oyo (raising 250$M last month) and RedBus, travel and tourism sector has seen a tremendous growth in a short span because of economies of scale.
At Itililite they follow these simple steps:
1) Traveler logs onto the website using their account, and shares the trip planned.
2) ITILITE then shares with them two details –
- ‘Budget to beat’: This is how much the trip would cost, if the traveler chooses his usual options (compliant with company’s travel policy, preferential tie-ups, and prevailing market rates)
- ‘Cheaper itinerary options’: These are trip suggestions on how the traveler can complete the same trip at a much lower cost.
3) If the traveler decides to travel at a cost lower than ‘Budget to Beat’, they get ‘Rewarded'(i.e., earn a portion of the savings).
- ITILITE helps travelers & companies determine savings for each trip
- It also powers redemption of the rewards earned through its Rewards Catalogue.
“Two-thirds of the fund will be deployed for marketing and the rest will go towards product development,” Mayank co-founder of Itilite, told InstaOffice.
“The tourism market in India is set to grow exponentially and we feel Itilite through their opaque platform has the potential to capture a good chunk of this market,” said Mayank co-founder of Itilite.
“Travelers are now interested in more authentic experiences. At the end of the day, we want Airbnb to be in the consideration set of more and more people that are planning to travel. We want people to understand the unique locations they can stay using our platform. The main aim of the partnership last year with Thomas Cook was to address the fact that people were still approaching travel agents to have everything booked under one roof. Apart from the accommodation, they want the forex, air bookings, on-location travel arrangements — all to be handled under one umbrella.
When I asked him what did you learn from starting up, this was his gyan:
Setting up a start-up is not easy; it needs imagination, creativity and hard work. You need to live up to competition and prove yourself. But it’s also a great learning experience. Here are 7 things I learnt while trying to set up BigBreaks.com.
- Hire people with talent and commitment. This is crucial. No matter how tempting it may be to hire friends, they may not be right for your start-up. Getting a team that knows how to deliver fast should be your priority. I got together the right mix of talent for various jobs that needed to be done. I looked for commitment and offered reasonable salaries. Hiring people with potential who seem likely to stick around for a while is important.
- Be judicious with your money. Spending out of your pocket is unavoidable in the beginning, but learn not to splurge, it can be risky. You have to grasp the importance of budgeting and be able to understand profit and loss. Balancing your budget is crucial.
- Track expenditure and make note of things that deplete your resources; minimize them and think up less expensive alternatives. Confining yourself to basics, in the beginning, pays dividends.
- Don’t let failure deter you. There will be setbacks. Don’t get disillusioned or disheartened. It’s part of the learning process.
- Dig in your heels and carry on. It pays to be persistent.
- Establish a good reproach with business associates. Build personal connections with people who matter. It might help your business in the long run.
- You have to persevere to succeed.
We wish Itilite the best in their noble work of making travel convenient for all of us. Check them out at itilite.com/. If you’re one of our members, feel free to say hi to them at our InstaOffice Coworking space in Indiranagar!
Happy Officing!
