Startups

Yo, business travelers: DC’s Upside officially launched this week

The company looks to reward road warriors for being flexible.

Upside on mobile. (Courtesy photo)

As of this week, Upside is making savings obtained via “data science magic” available to all business travelers.

The travel booking startup founded by Priceline founders Jay Walker and Scott Case incentivizes business travelers to chose cheaper travel options by offering them free stuff (in the form of gift cards) in return for their flexibility. We profiled downtown D.C.-based Upside back in July when the platform was still in beta.

Upside’s model “forces the traveler to think about the mission of the business trip,” Case told Technical.ly at the time. It also helps align traveler interests (getting free stuff with minimal hassle) with the interests of the small businesses they work for (saving money).

Bloomberg reported on Monday that Upside has raised $50 million in funding thus far. Upside indeed.

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