Event: 2023 Phocuswright Europe
Product: Uptrip
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Principal(s): Christine Wang (Managing Director of Lufthansa Innovation Hub GmbH)
Funding: No funding, built within the Lufthansa Innovation Hub
Product Description: Uptrip is a blockchain-based gamification app that helps airlines and travel companies increase their sales and the loyalty of their customers by offering rewards to the travellers everytime they fly.
With Uptrip, a traveller receives digital trading cards with each flight which then uses to complete specific collections and receive exclusive rewards.
If the user wants, they will be able to connect its crypto wallet and mint all their Uptrip cards as NFTs, giving them 100% ownership of the cards.
Business Model: The business model being tested is based on 3 revenue streams: a shop, that allows users to buy missing trading cards and add-ons; a marketplace, from where we receive a commission for each trade; and partnerships, either from airlines with a white-label solution or from other travel companies that could have their products available to our users.
Competitors: The main competitors are other alternative airline loyalty programs, especially those that developed blockchain-based solutions.
Competitive Edge: Uptrip was developed at the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, a unit of the Lufthansa Group that pioneers the future of travel. This is Uptrip’s competitive edge: easy access to potential partners, knowledge and use cases, speeding up the development process and increasing the chances of success.
Market Opportunity: The airline loyalty programs is a huge market, valued in over $3.1 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $7.1 billion by 2027. Yet 59% of travelers are not members of an airline loyalty program according to a study. This proves that there is a huge opportunity to disrupt this market and offer more loyalty solutions that can cater the needs of the airlines, travel companies and the travelers themselves.
Early Customers: Uptrip was launched in May 2023 and already has +17.000 registered users that claimed +11.000 rewards, with minimal marketing efforts.
Contact: João Fernandes, Venture Development Manager; [email protected]; +49 351912391231
