Gef’s 30 Under 30 Winner strikes deal with Etihad

Proud Gef moment! Manx-born graduate and Gef’s 30 Under 30 2023 Winner, Harvey Lowe, and his co-founder Prithveesh Reddy, have successfully launched the B2B travel-tech platform Arcube, with Etihad Airways as its first customer.

Arcube enables airlines to upsell ancillaries, tailored specifically to the customer via the AI-powered analysis of hundreds of data points. For example, a passenger flying out of London Heathrow, known for its notoriously long security queues, might be offered a fast-track security pass for their next flight, redeemable with loyalty points.

This turns an otherwise frustrating experience into an incentive to rebook with the same airline. These ancillaries significantly increase the likelihood that the passenger will return to the airline.

Lowe attended Ballakermeen High School before continuing his education at the University of Manchester, and started the business at just 18 years old with co-founder Reddy.

The pair discovered the shortcomings of airline loyalty schemes during their frequent travels, and came to the conclusion that current programs only benefit the top 5% of flyers, with the majority virtually never accumulating enough points to make use of them.

While still in the first year of their undergraduate degrees, the pair sent a simple, cold email pitch to the Etihad Airways London office – the likes of which are often sent with little expectation of a response.

Lowe said: ‘It was a case of reaching the right person at the right time; we had full confidence in what we were offering, but breaking into the airline business is notoriously difficult. So a positive response from Etihad meant the world to us and reaffirmed we were moving in the right direction.’

In the two years since, and during the remainder of the founding pair’s stint at university, Arcube’s platform has enabled passengers enrolled in Etihad Airways’ pilot programme to customise their travel experience. This has driven seven-figures in additional revenue for the airline and increased the average customer spend by 10.3%.

In conjunction with the launch, Arcube is announcing a £1.15M seed round to further develop the platform and its services, co-led by Fuel Ventures and Oxford Capital Partners. The money raised will be put towards growing the platform and the team is already in conversations with 14 other airlines globally.

We like to think Gef had some part to play in this, but equally, we know that Harvey is just awesome all on his own.

If you think you know a talented young local who is doing great things, you have until 17th March to nominate them for this year’s Gef’s 30 Under 30!