Leading Travel Management Platform Deem to Invest USD 10M on India Expansion

Deem, a leading mobile and cloud technology provider for the corporate travel industry, today announced its plans to invest USD 10 Million in India. The capital will be utilized to bolster the company’s R&D capabilities in the country towards enhancing the corporate travel management experience for more than 50,000 corporate customers around the world. The investment will position Deem’s India centre as an R&D hub for Deem’s product development worldwide. Deem’s personalized and intuitive business travel management platform, uses advanced technologies to provide optimized solutions for travelers, corporate travel managers and travel management companies. The company currently has 100 employees in Bengaluru, India, focused primarily on Research & Development (R&D).

Experiencing hyper-growth, Asia’s travel market is expected to more than double by 2025 (as per Amadeus) with corporate travel spending expected to account for the world’s total. India will contribute significantly to this share of the pie and is projected to crack the top 5 by 2022, according to a recent report by GBTA. Despite the potential, business travelers, particularly millennial business travelers in India and the APAC region face many challenges, owing to the lack of smart, digital solutions in corporate travel management.

“To maintain our position as a front runner in the dynamic space of corporate travel management, India will have a significant role to play, from an R&D as well sales perspective. We will optimize our presence in APAC using India as a strong foothold. Corporate Travel Management in India is at a ripe stage and this is an opportune time for us to develop a strong talent pool that can support our business growth in this geography,” said Neil Markey, SVP Product & Chief Information Officer, Deem Inc.

Deem’s travel management platform addresses the pain points of business travelers globally and the company plans to double its India headcount in the next two years to create a Centre of Excellence  (COE) on Quality Assurance (QA) Automation as well as the development of the next generation travel platform by working closely with the Ireland and San Francisco centres. Deem is also developing a COE on Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) that is focused on creating an enhanced user experience along with business intelligence to enable quicker and better decision making for their customers.

Outlining the strategy for India, Ramesh Kalanje, VP & GM, Deem Inc. said, “Deem has nurtured and invested in a highly driven team in India with the technological prowess to disrupt the corporate travel industry. Therefore, India has become a testing ground for Deem to offer solutions that are focused on consumer experience and improving the lives of business travelers, globally. In India, Bengaluru has some of the brightest tech talent and we look forward to driving innovation through our Centre of Excellence to disrupt the corporate travel industry.”

Deem is wholly owned by Enterprise Holdings, the world’s largest car rental provider, and an industry leader in mobility and technology. Deem’s global customer portfolio includes Pepsi, McKinsey and Company, eBay, Bank of America, NBA, Merck and Bose amongst others. It helps save over USD 33 million for its clients, each year, on airfare. Its Automatic ticket exchange feature automatically recalculates fares and reissues tickets without agent intervention. Deem’s platform is faster - time tests show travelers can book air, hotel and rental car almost two minutes faster per booking with 6 less clicks than the leading competitor.