FlyKube flies again

Among the companies that succumbed to the health crisis could well have been FlyKube, a startup specializing in surprise trips that was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the restrictions that affected the sector during the pandemic. Far from it, today the company is doing well: last year it had revenues of 2.8 million euros, 150% more than in 2023, it has just opened a financing round of one million euros, and is preparing its leap into the US market.

Founded seven years ago, FlyKube was recently recognized by the consulting firm Deloitte as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the country. Part of its success is due, argues its CEO, Paolo Giordano Della Peppa, to its defining technological and innovative component: "The pandemic left us with one positive thing: we have automated 90% of our operations, which were previously very manual and unsustainable." This change has allowed FlyKube to save costs, especially in personnel, as it has gone from having a workforce of 34 people last year to just six: "Yes, even though we don't like it morally, new technologies take away work," acknowledges Giordano.

The company, which has its own token, has just opened a funding round of one million euros.

However, returning to profitability—EBITDA was €250,000 last year—hasn't been an easy path for the startup, especially due to the difficulty of refunding customers who booked trips that COVID-19 forced to cancel. "Recovering the brand and getting back to selling like before has taken time," admits the CEO, who joined the project shortly after Sergi Vila and Albert Cuartiella founded it. Currently, 77% of the shares are held by Giordano, Cuartiella holds 5%, and the remainder belongs to two funds.

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In addition to offering surprise trips, the platform allows you to book surprise restaurants and pay with its own token (KubeCoin), an initiative it launched during the pandemic to fund itself and is still promoting. Another vertical it opened to survive was a surprise food delivery service, although it is no longer operational. "Now we're focusing on our main business, FlyKube, because the other verticals are taking our focus away," says its CEO.

The million euros the company is seeking to raise through the Crowdcube platform will be used to improve its technological tool, a travel search engine based on machine learning technology, offer its software to third parties, and invest in marketing to strengthen its brand and expand into new markets, such as the United States, where it will open a branch in Miami.