FlyinAway is pursuing a seed round of about $500,000, says Eric Lanier, FlyinAway Founder and CEO. "The focal point is definitely gaining traction with members and looking for funding," he says of the next year.
Lanier originally started FlyinAway in 2010, pivoted and relaunched a beta site in spring 2013. "It's been an iterative process," he says. "The big focus is on the members. It's about making flying easier and cheaper for them."
The company has paid and unpaid members. The former pay $7.99 a month or $80 a year. "We're getting a good amount of traction," says Lanier.
The FlyinAway process has members vote on routes they would like to travel. Once a route has enough votes, an auction starts and paid members can bid on ticket prices. If they win, they can book up to four tickets at that price.
"We're launched and we're growing," says Lanier. "We've saved our members over $20,000 to date."
Lanier also highlights a new partnership with Hertz and the company's board, which includes FullContact CEO Bart Lorang and Jeff Potter, formerly CEO of Frontier Airlines.
FlyinAway has good company in a number of travel startups in Denver -- like NextGreat Place, Inspirato and Evolve Vacation Rental Network. Lanier attributes the growing cluster of travel companies in the city to the local mindset.
"We're a great destination, so travel is always on our mind," he explains. "It's the Denver state of mind. We can drive two hours and be anywhere."
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Eric Peterson with tips and leads for future stories at eric@confluence-denver.com.
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