Travel startups from the Insurtech Map of the insurance sector

El IV Insurtech Map of the Spanish Ecosystem, prepared by Santalucía Impulsa in collaboration with The Referent, shows the importance of technology and startups in insurance innovation. To solve some of the challenges faced by this sector, the map is divided by blocks, and one of them refers to the travel startups.The tourism sector has been a mature sector for decades, and the large companies that comprise it do not have the agility of small companies to innovate. Nowadays we can refer to it as a sector with a large number of innovative startups both for traveling and for moving around your city, and in this post we collect some of them. | Download the Spanish Insurtech Ecosystem Report

Air Doctor

Air Doctor is an original startup from Israel but with a presence in Spain. It is dedicated to helping travelers to find a doctor abroad, given the difficulty of receiving quality medical care while away from home. It achieves it thanks to a worldwide network of doctors and specialists locals in countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and America. Finding themselves in situations that put their health at risk is very common among people who travel abroad, either because of the lack of trust in local health services or because they are not familiar with them. Precisely from this idea, Air Doctor was born, an intuitive and accessible platform to provide travelers with the right medical service that adapts to their needs regardless of where they are. Through the app, the user who needs it can find specialized doctors and schedule an online or in-person visit in a few simple steps. Thanks to its digital health product, Air Doctor collaborates with different entities. Among them, Iris Global, which offers a International Travel Insurance with the best coverage of medical assistance, optional cancellation and loss of luggage, among others. And, of course, international help from medical providers in any destination.

BlaBlaCar

BlaBlaCar is the world's leading rideshare company. Present in Spain since 2010, it is the Largest social network for long-distance car-sharing trips, with more than 90 million users in 22 countries. The company relies on technology for fill the places that are empty in the trips. Thanks to it, it manages to connect those who want to share a car or travel by bus, making these trips more affordable, practical and interesting. Drivers publish the trip they have scheduled in BlaBlaCar, indicating the date, origin (you can even select the place to pick up the passenger) and destination. Passengers who want to take the same route but who do not have the means, can request to join by selecting the option or driver that best suits them, thus sharing the expenses derived from the trip. To make it feasible, BlaBlaCar recommends a contribution per user and trip based on the costs associated with driving, such as gasoline, tolls, maintenance, insurance or taxes. It also limits the maximum contribution that drivers can request, so that these expenses are never exceeded. Since its inception, the platform has become a practical, simple and direct model. And not only that, but The bus already represents 10% of its activity in Spain, allowing it to promote an increasingly efficient, multimodal and sustainable ecosystem.

BYHOURS

BYHOURS It is the first platform that allows the user book hotels by the hour internationally. Thanks to it, it is possible to choose the time of check-in, the length of the stay or accommodation and pay only for the time needed. The company was founded in 2012 by a young and innovative team to revolutionize the hotel industry by contributing flexibility and customization when it comes to booking. Although its offices are located in Barcelona and Mexico, the platform offers hotels by the hour in the main cities and airports: Madrid, Berlin, Paris, London, Rome, Dubai, Bogota... BYHOURS works with microstays, packs of 3, 6 or 24 hours in which to enjoy a hotel room and all its services (pool, spa, gym, restaurant...). In addition, it provides the security of immediate confirmation and free cancellation in most cases. The BYHOURS solution was created for those people who, sometimes, only need a Hotel by the hour. For example, for waiting at airports for layovers or cancellations, for those hours off on business trips or for special celebrations such as anniversaries. In this way, the obligation to pay for an entire day, or to wait until 14:00 to check in, disappears. It's about being able to enjoy hotels in a flexible way. To benefit from these hourly stays, the user has to search the platform for the city or hotel where they want to stay, select the day and the package of hours they are going to need and choose the time of entry.

Cooltra

Cooltra It is a startup of motorcycle rental for companies and individuals with the aim of transforming cities into more sustainable, safe and efficient places. Its mobility solutions available to everyone respond to any need, making it a leading international company thanks to the creation of new rental models which have spread across Europe: car sharing and renting for individuals, companies and Public Administrations. For individuals, Cooltra offers a wide range of possibilities to live the experience of traveling by motorcycle or bicycle without having to own one. Depending on their needs, the customer can choose between:

• Rent by minutes/hours.
• Rent by days.
• Rent by months.

For companies, in the B2B line, they offer monthly motorcycle rentals (Renting) and even entire fleets of two-wheeled vehicles (Private sharing). This service is aimed at companies, municipalities, police forces, etc. The available options are:

• Renting.
• Private sharing.
• Sharing for employees.
• Sale of sharing credit.

Coverontrip

Coverontrip Digital Insurance It's a digital dealer specialized in travel insurance. It offers the most appropriate insurance solution for each traveler profile and each type of trip. The need to take out good unique insurance for each trip is what motivates this company to provide its services: it offers specialized insurance for tourism and vacation trips, for students, for business... Each of them covers the insured's medical assistance, the cancellation of the trip if necessary with the corresponding compensation depending on the chosen policy or the resolution of problems with the luggage.Coverontrip collaborates with the best insurance companies to provide the best DCX (Digital Consumer Experience), a good level of customer service and the safest 24-hour travel assistance in the world.When taking out insurance, the user only has to ensure that they comply with the policy they are interested in, so that they can adjust the coverage they need and adapt the price to their specific case. The platform adapts to the type of trip taken by each user, allowing them to conveniently specify the guarantees they need in their insurance. The idea is to offer a customer-oriented value proposition, completely digital and with a personalized and innovative design.Its goal is for every traveler to feel that Coverontrip is by their side not only when they need them, but also when they experience new emotions and want to share them.

FlexMyRoom

FlexMyRoom is a technological startup that emerges from the opportunity to Connecting the world of travel and insurance.One of the big problems faced by the hotel sector is the need to include a free cancellation policy in order not to lose sales opportunities. But FlexMyRoom, aimed at hotel entrepreneurs, offers a solution to incorporate policies into hotel reservations to limit the impact of cancellations.The company began to grow thanks to this rate with cancellation insurance if this was for a justified cause. In this way, the hotel charged the corresponding amount and the customer recovered their money. However, the business model evolved until it reached the development of proprietary technology that makes it possible to include insurance (cancellation and travel assistance) on the booking platforms that the hotels themselves have on their websites. The traveler only has to make the reservation through the hotel's website, where FlexMyRoom has added policies to the rates (although there are establishments that prefer to offer it as an optional extra during the process). Hotels, on the other hand, thanks to a simple integration and an automated solution, manage to avoid the commissions they must pay for reservations through other platforms and achieve a distinction from the competition. Thanks to the combination of tourism and technology concepts, FlexMyRoom associates travel insurance with each reservation made directly to the hotel, which offers confidence and protection to the guest, and cancellation insurance, which allows you to cancel your reservation without penalty and to the hotel to secure your treasury.

Free2move

Carsharing It is the pillar of Free2move, a mobility service that allows rent vehicles for minutes, hours, days or months. It's as simple as locating in real time the vehicle that is closest or that suits the customer's needs and booking it. The Free2move user downloads the app to their smartphone, registers with their identity card and driving license, reserves the vehicle they want and can now enjoy sustainable and efficient driving. In addition, there is no fee for parking meters and you can access residential priority areas. To finish the rental, simply leave the keys in the glove compartment and close the car with the application. In addition, the company also offers a service of car rental with a presence in more than 170 countries around the world and more than 400,000 vehicles available. It has cars of the best brands and different categories (family, minivan, compact, SUV...), all accessible 24/7 and with total autonomy for the user. You can reserve, open the vehicle, start it, close it and end the rental at any time from your smartphone.

GuruWalk

GuruWalk It's a international community of Free tours, (in this case guruwalks) that connects travelers with guides around the world. It is present in 100 countries and in more than 1,000 cities. For those who are not familiar with the concept, a Free tour It is a guided tour in which a guide shows a group of people the history, culture, lifestyle, areas of interest, emblematic or secret places of a city. And it does so in a fun, entertaining and educational way. However, the fact that it is called”Free” doesn't mean it's free, but rather a free tour for a fee. That is, here it is the traveler who, at the end of the tour, decides the amount with which he rewards the guide for his activity based on his experience. Thus, the traveler selects the city he is going to visit, choose from the available guruwalks (for this purpose you can contact the guide or read the reviews of other travelers) and Make the reservation free of charge. You can choose from themes, neighborhoods, essentials, etc. The last step is to reward the work of gurus. In this way, GuruWalk has created a community among the Gurus (the local guides), and the Walkers (travelers who enjoy this type of experience,) facilitating access to knowledge through unique, quality and accessible multicultural experiences anywhere in the world.

Hello Auto

Hello Auto is a new insurance company that was born to revolutionize the sector with its cheaper insurance for those who drive better.Depending on whether the user drives regularly or drives little, Hello Auto offers tailor-made insurance, adjusting prices to each driver and guaranteeing great savings on the policy (the objective is for the customer to pay less every year) .This innovative technological car insurance is characterized by the device they have developed, Hello Auto Connect, bringing driving to a new era characterized by safety and connectivity. This one is presented as a driving assistant, an intelligent co-pilot, and is provided to each customer free of charge. The objective is to reward good driving behavior. What are its functionalities?

• Record everything that happens while driving.
• It works as a speed assistant, indicating the speed at which you are driving and the maximum allowed on each road.
• It has a system e-call which allows the insurance company headquarters to receive an automatic emergency alarm whenever a vehicle with its device has an accident.
• Warn of upcoming radars on the road while driving.
• It has an alert system on the condition of the vehicle to know if any repairs or revisions need to be made.
• Warn of any unauthorized movement of the vehicle at any time.

With Hello Auto's advanced car insurance, the driver will know everything about his driving and his vehicle, will always have him located and will control the routes he has taken. With all this, you can receive advice on improving efficiency and safety, among other advantages.

Heymondo

Heymondo It is the company that provides tailor-made insurance, adapted to each type of traveler, with the best quality-price ratio and with a commitment to being by their side at all times. The Heymondo app offers:

• A service of telemedicine with medical chat and video consultation by medical specialists available 24 hours a day to answer any questions. In addition, the app allows you to send images and documents that are relevant for immediate advice.
• Free support calls anywhere in the world thanks to the internet connection. In case of any emergency, the user only needs to click to contact the insurance company.
• An easy and intuitive process for process and manage possible incidents, for example, due to delays in means of transport, theft, damage to luggage, etc. This management also allows the user to attach the necessary documentation to speed up the process.
• The possibility of always having all the policy information in one place. This private space allows you to consult and review all travel insurance information.

In its mission to make life easier for travelers, Heymondo relies on latest technologies to offer the best products, coverage and services in an intuitive and fully transparent shopping experience, regardless of the destination.More than a million travelers have already traveled with Heymondo insurance, visiting more than 150 countries around the world. The company has provided assistance to all of them on every occasion: from incidents considered to be milder with luggage or with means of transport, to other more serious incidents directly related to health or medical care.

Identify

The objective of Identify is facilitate access to information on cultural heritage from around the world through mobile technology, and increase the supply of cultural information to contribute to the demassification of tourism. The startup acts as a travel guide from around the world with more than 300,000 cultural spots to discover. It helps travelers to know what surrounds them in each place they visit, allowing them to play, learn about and identify the cultural heritage they see on the streets. And they achieve this thanks to the DTX technology (Destination Traveller Experience) and its platform for tailor-made digital guides. With it, accommodations and destinations can offer their customers unique and quality recommendations, achieving more profitability and increasing loyalty. Accommodations and destinations have a private profile with which they can customize routes, activities and gastronomic options for their customers. Thus they deploy the possibility of offer the best leisure and cultural options in the city and, to optimize your travel experience by making it more satisfying and recommendable. With all this, Identify aims to become the reference application in terms of cultural tourism, where the community is the one that generates trust for the travelers themselves, because they are the ones who recommend the most relevant points and the most outstanding routes in each place.

Inspiravia

Inspiravia It is a startup that was founded in 2014 and develops B2B technological solutions for the tourism industry. It is especially focused on the travel agency sector, OTA's, tourist offices, TTOO and DMC's. The project began with the need to create inspirational software with all the information about the destinations in a single link. Thus, Inspiravia aims to help travel agencies promote destinations, create travel budgets and itineraries through inspiration and innovation.The company was part of the InsurChallenge Traveltech at the 5th edition of Santalucía Impulsa Startups, the corporate acceleration program for innovative projects. Viewtravel (Inspiravia) together with Vyootrip were the selected startups. Therefore, Viewtravel, a platform that allows travel agencies promote and introduce travelers to any destination around the world with all the content of videos and photos instantly in an inspiring way, it was one of the accelerated startups in 2021-2022.

Meep

Meep is the definition of intelligent urban mobility. This is a digital solution that integrates and connects different transport services creating sustainable connected mobility ecosystems.MEEP shows all combined means of transport and all the route options available within a city in your trip planner. The app advises the user how to move from point A to point B in a personalized way, and its algorithm is able to combine the best route with a bus, train, subway, bicycle, scooter, taxi or shared car. Meep's solution is inspired by the MaaS concept (Mobility as a Service), which consists of connecting all available modes of transport (public and private) in a single application. In this way, users can plan, book and pay for their trips in one place, easily and without complications. In addition, it gives the possibility to choose the fastest, most economical, sustainable or effective route. In order to achieve a more connected, sustainable and efficient mobility, Meep makes it possible to make the most of the potential of existing mobility by creating an interconnected transport ecosystem, making use of all underused assets and adapting the current system to the needs of users.

Vyootrip

Vyootrip It's the business travel management platform which allows the optimization and automation of all related processes. Corporate travel can be a logistical and financial headache, but Vyootrip technology offers a complete solution: from booking transportation and accommodation to tracking expenses. The startup drives global growth with efficient, secure and borderless corporate travel solutions. And it does so by adding value for each of the roles involved, providing customized solutions for managers, travelers and financiers.

• Benefits for the manager: manages trips efficiently, establishing regulations that adhere to the organization's objectives and budget.
• Benefits for the traveler: allows you to enjoy streamlined bookings and ongoing support, so you can focus on the purpose of your trip.
• Benefits for the financial sector: Get visibility into travel spending and take advantage of data to better plan your future budget.

It should also be noted that together with Viewtravel, Vyootrip was the other startup accelerated by Santalucía Impulsa Startups in 2021-2022.

Waynabox

For those looking for an exciting trip, Waynabox it's the perfect solution. It offers express trips around Europe or Spain which include direct flights and accommodation, and does not reveal the destination until a few days before the date. How do they work Waynabox surprise trips? The first step is to choose the experience (travel by plane, by road...). Once this step is passed, the reservation is customized, that is, the dates, the number of travelers, etc. The last step is to discover the adventure 48 hours before traveling. A Waynabox includes return flights and accommodation. All the accommodations are very well located: either they are centrally located or they are well connected to public transport. In addition, they have good reviews on TripAdvisor. As an extra service, you can limit the flight schedule, rule out destinations or add breakfast.

ZIM

ZIM It's a eSIM market created to help travelers around the world. In it you can search for and buy affordable eSIM data plans in more than 120 countries.ZIM's mission is offer travelers 24/7 connection around the world. The application connects users to local mobile providers using eSIM technology. This is a digital SIM card integrated into a mobile device that allows the entire process of acquiring a telephone data plan to be completely digital. You can search for the most affordable one, buy it and activate it on the same device. eSIM technology avoids expensive fees of Roaming and helps travelers to stay connected abroad thanks to a simple process that is completed in a few steps. No more card changes, the loss of the national number, etc. ZIM connects users everywhere with the most suitable data plan for their needs.