Hangar 51 Demo Day | Accelerator Programme – L Marks

The climax of Hangar 51, IAG’s first start-up accelerator, was Demo Day on 27 March. Nearly 200 people watched the five start-ups present what they accomplished during ten weeks of working alongside IAG in Waterside. Here are the key achievements for each start-up:

Esplorio said they saw so many opportunities while being in Hangar 51 that they decided to do four projects, not just one. These included capturing BA crew members’ trips as they toured around London and Lisbon, as well as a marketing campaign to promote travel to the UK. The start-up also successfully integrated rich travel content on ba.com, to help drive engagement and increase sales.

Undagrid performed a live test of its tracking solution in Madrid and Heathrow airports. By tracking unit load devices and customer baggage, IAG can improve the customer experience and operational efficiency.

Warwick Analytics used its predictive analytics software to analyse unstructured customer feedback. They focused on automatically categorising data and visualising key insights. The accuracy of the predictions far exceeded what would be expected from other techniques.

Resolver worked alongside IAG experts to understand customer relations processes, and how they can be automated to improve customer satisfaction. During Hangar 51, they developed a system to validate EU 261 delayed boarding claims. The system predicts whether a claim will result in compensation, and advise IAG on the best way it should be dealt with.

Vchain focused on blockchain technology to provide a solution for sharing data securely, which is of significant interest to airlines and their partners. Vchain delivered a proof of concept on passport validation that is now live with a small group of customers. The solution is designed to streamline airport processes, and the work is aligned to the IATA One Identity vision.

Willie Walsh told guests at Demo Day: “What’s been really interesting to watch has been the progress from Pitch Day to Demo Day today. It’s turned into something truly tangible that we feel can make a difference to our business. It’s been a fantastic process.”

The next stage for Hangar 51 is to decide how IAG will continue working with the five start-ups, including possible investment opportunities.