Amadeus Next: Unveiling new partnerships and regional expansion

Bangkok, Thailand - Creating peace of mind for travelers – such as secure digital transactions using blockchain, safe pet air travel and clean energy for remote communities – are common themes across the new batch of startups that have joined the Amadeus Next community. Among them are Xank, CarePod and Global Himalayan Expedition, all of them innovators in shaping the future of travel and driving travel tech innovation forward.

Amadeus Next was launched in November 2015, with the mission to build and foster a travel tech startup ecosystem of like-minded partners and people, whilst providing them with access to Amadeus’ technology, expertise, reach and funding.

To coincide with their two-year milestone, Amadeus Next has announced plans to grow and expand into new markets in the Asia Pacific region. These include China, where tech companies are leading the charge for entrepreneurship and Indonesia and Vietnam, two of the most promising markets for the startup ecosystem. This move will see Amadeus Next work actively with relevant stakeholders to support startups on the ground. In addition to helping entrepreneurs identify suitable customers and partners, the Amadeus Next startup community also provides a platform for ideas sharing between fellow entrepreneurs.


Amadeus Next startup Ubudu exhibiting at the HKIA Technovation event, November 2017

Simon Akeroyd, Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Amadeus Asia Pacific, commented, “We are proud to have achieved these milestones over the past two years. The tech startup scene in Asia is booming, with nearly a third of the world’s private unicorns valued at US$1 billion headquartered here. With more travel startups in Asia Pacific achieving Unicorn status, such as China (Tujia) and Indonesia (GO-JEK), Amadeus is committed to propelling the travel tech startups in these markets, on their journey to becoming the next big thing. Our key focus for next year will be expanding into new countries to improve our understanding of market specificities, alongside strengthening Amadeus’ footprint in the startup ecosystem across Asia Pacific. We will also continue to explore other verticals such as fintech, insurtech and IoT to discover emerging technologies and trends before they reach the travel sector.”

As Amadeus Next celebrates its second year anniversary, it is looking to broaden its perimeters by entering into new industries, new collaborations include Xank, CarePod, and Global Himalayan Expedition. With Xank, it is about exploring the effect of blockchain on the South East Asian travel sector, a key area of focus for Amadeus in 2018. Through CarePod, new enterprise solutions are created to boost airline ancillary, seeking to improve the experiences of "pet owner" passengers and their pets throughout the entire air travel process.  Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE), is a social enterprise focused on providing energy, education, connectivity and livelihood access to remote Himalayan villages the latest to join Next.

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