Innovation Series Competition: Safely, Stasher, Sanctifly

Safely, Stasher and Sanctifly recently faced off in the final webinar of the GBTA and Phocuswright Innovation Series, a program designed to bring the business travel industry’s most impactful innovators to GBTA Convention 2018 in San Diego. Throughout the series, nine companies competed for the ultimate title of “Best Innovator in Business Travel” as well as a spot on the Expo Floor at Convention. After presenting a six-minute pitch to a panel of judges, the winner’s fate rests in the hands of the audience.

According to Safely CEO Andrew Bate, 70% of bad stays in short-term home rentals are caused by only 14% of guests. That’s where Safely comes in. Andrew kicked things off and explained the model for his company, which measures the risk of hosts and guests who use short-term home rental sites like Airbnb and HomeAway. The company also certifies homes based on a set of 125-plus standards that mirror the standards hotels abide by.

In addition, Safely conducts background checks on guests to verify their identity and check for felonies, global fraud or sex offenders. Once they verify a guest as trustworthy, they can insure each reservation for up to $1,000,000. Similar to the background checks conducted for guests, they can also verify homeowners and predict the probability of a negative outcome or a risky reservation in advance. From a corporate travel perspective, travel managers can then use this information to act accordingly and put their business travelers in a different property.

Next up, Co-Founder & COO Anthony Collias shared the idea behind Stasher, the world’s first sharing economy solution for luggage storage. The online platform lists a range of local shops and hotels willing to store travelers’ bags, which users can then book on demand while they attend a meeting or visit local sights. Leisure and business travelers alike have surely encountered issues with storing their bags, especially those who book home-sharing properties with early checkout times and no luggage storage options.

The service is currently available in 15 cities and 400 locations across Europe, with plans to expand and add a courier service in the future. Anthony explained that the company intends to allow travelers to leave a bag at a StashPoint, then have the bag sent directly to meet the traveler at their preferred destination.

Between long lines, early morning arrivals and late night takeoffs, Sanctify Founder Karl Llewellyn says little time remains for traveler self-care and health. Sanctify aims to change that by aggregating travel wellness options and activities within a five-mile radius of an airport.

Travelers enter a date and time, select an airport, and choose an activity from the available options, 40% of which are non-monetized. For example, there’s a free shuttle service at Logan Airport that can take you to the harbor for a nice walk on the pier. The service is currently live at over 90 airports and over 230 location partners, making it the world’s largest airport gym network.

At the end of the webinar, the audience selected their favorite innovator in a live polling session. Participants chose Stasher as the winner, who will move on to exhibit at Innovation Row at GBTA Convention 2018. In addition to exhibiting, the winners of the three webinars, Lumo, GermFalcon, and Stasher, will face off in an exclusive Innovation Series finale. GBTA members may view the webinar in full through the Hub.