2020 was going to be a big year for Logan Clemens. He had spent the last year and a half working on his company, WanderSeat, which was going to provide a patent pending technology that allowed users to get discounted tickets if they were flexible on destination. But when the novel coronavirus pandemic hit, shuttering the travel industry, Clemens had to re-evaluate.
"Obviously the entrepreneurial journey is a roller coaster already," he said. "But when Covid hit, the aviation industry was impacted arguably the worst. So, it was a lot of trying to figure out what was going on and that was tough to navigate through. I got down on myself super hard, I doubted myself a little bit. But I'm not giving up; I've been doing this the last year and a half, I'm not going to throw in the towel now."
Clemens had the benefit of his investors staying put, unlike many other startups whose investors pulled as industries stalled.
"Our investors have been extremely supportive, they understand Covid and the effect it had on the industry," he said. The company has raised a pre seed for an undisclosed amount. "We're very fortunate our investors stayed with us, because a lot did not and [those startups] didn't make it unfortunately. We want to push forward with WanderSeat; we still very much believe in it."
With that support, while WanderSeat itself has yet to launch, Clemens is offering a "mistake fare tool" on the app in which users will be alerted when prices for their trips are significantly lower than the average offering.
"We're starting to see people travel for leisure — I think businesses have been more cautious sending their consultants out across the country for business travel," Clemens said. "Business travel makes up a majority of air travel and since business travel hasn’t made that return, the number of outbound flights are very low. Because of that, I think to improve on their revenue management strategy, airlines are targeting leisure travelers with these short-term low prices."
The beta version of the tool will be offered only in the Tampa Bay region, then later expand. The current goal for the company is to build its user base with a simple offering, then based on customer feedback add more features from there. The company employs four total people, including Clemens, and is a member of Embarc Collective.
And with travel starting to increase, especially as the holiday season rounds the corner, Clemens is hopeful WanderSeat's offering is exactly what's needed during these times.
"We spent the last year and a half on this and we just wanted to release something for the Tampa Bay community," he said. "People have to travel; they always do."
