Steve Singh, co-founder of Concur, has backed a new startup called Juno that aims to streamline corporate guest travel. Juno recently raised $2 million in seed funding led by Bungalow Ventures. Guest travel, which includes trips for clients, potential hires, and other non-employees, can account for up to 20% of a company’s overall travel expenses.
However, managing guest travel often involves cumbersome processes like emails, spreadsheets, and requiring guests to front costs. Juno’s platform guides coordinators and guests through booking, logistics, payments, reimbursements, and reconciliation. The company’s co-founders, Devon Tivona and Sam Felsenthal, previously co-founded Pana, another corporate guest travel platform acquired by Coupa in 2021.
“Guest travel has always been the glaring gap in the corporate travel stack,” Tivona said. “Guests don’t have logins. They don’t have corporate cards.
They don’t know the travel policy. And yet, these are often the most important trips a company coordinates.”
Singh views guest travel as a “glaring blind spot” in the corporate travel ecosystem.
Guest travel streamlined for enterprises
“It’s still manual, fragmented, and underserved,” he noted. “Juno is solving that with a modern, integrated platform built for today’s enterprises and their most important travelers.”
Juno’s technology acts as a booking tool that lies between the corporate travel agency and the client company. The client inputs basic traveler information, allowing the traveler to book and manage travel and expenses.
The AI presents flight and hotel options compliant with the client company’s travel policies. The system includes integration with Uber for rideshare and a section for expense reimbursement uploads. If human service is needed, a chatbot connects the traveler with the respective agency.
Juno is set to launch its travel product in June with around 10 customers, including several Fortune 500 companies. The expense product will launch this month with a select group of customers. Singh has been actively investing in various travel-related startups.
He was involved in the acquisition of Direct Travel Inc., a corporate travel management company, and serves as executive chairman of Otto, a Seattle-based startup for business travel booking. Juno aims to revolutionize corporate guest travel by integrating a seamless, modern solution for companies to manage their most critical trips efficiently.
