2016 Innovators You Should Know



Ron Shah's office building went under invasive renovation just when he most needed a meeting room. Andrea Graziani's company saw no need for luggage to continue to weigh down business travelers. Maximilian Waldmann thought the standard hotel stay put more of a burden than was necessary on travelers. And Ethan Bernstein, sitting at an airport, watched a massive line form in the wake of a canceled flight and thought, "There has to be a better way." Here are five companies that have used technology to create better ways to do corporate travel.

Bizly
Bizly

Q&A with founder & CEO Ron Shah

Bizly brings empty meetings space at "curated" hotels together with last-minute corporate demand.

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Conichi
Conichi

Q&A with co-founder & CEO Maximilian Waldmann

Conichi's app aims to change the way guests and hotels interact with beacon technology that allows fast guest check-in, mobile payments and customized mobile messages. It also simplifies check-out and invoicing.

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Dufl
Dufl

Q&A with co-founder & chief marketing officer Andrea Graziani

Dufl cleans, stores and ships a business traveler's clothes and other items, eliminating the need to pack, unpack, launder and lug around a bag for a business trip.

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Freebird
Freebird

Q&A with co-founder & CEO Ethan Bernstein

Prior to Freebird, Bernstein worked in Expedia's corporate development group and worked on Expedia's spinoff of TripAdvisor and its acquisitions of Trivago and Travelocity. These days, he's solving trip disruption.

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Pana
Pana

Q&A with co-founder & CEO Devon Tivona

Virtual travel assistant Pana combines artificial intelligence and a team of agents to manage travel. Through a chat interface, users can book trips and manage additions, changes and disruptions to existing itineraries.

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