Flight delay prediction startup Lumo raises $2.3 Million in Seed Funding

• U.S. Flight Delay Prediction Startup Gets Backing From JetBlue Technology Ventures, Founders Factory, Plug and Play, 2M, and Notable Angel Investors

• Also previously received seven-figures in grants from NASA
• Founding team from Berkeley, MIT, Stanford University

• Company uses sophisticated simulation algorithms and machine learning to better predict flight delays hours, days, and weeks before departure.
  

BOSTON, March 29, 2018 – Lumo (formerly flightsayer), a Boston-based predictive technology company that uses machine learning to forecast flight disruptions, announced that it has raised $2.3 million in seed funding.

Investors include JetBlue Technology Ventures, Founders Factory, Plug and Play, 2M, and an unnamed strategic investor. This round of funding will support the company’s product development and growth in the U.S. and internationally. The company has previously received $1.75M in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from NASA to model airspace efficiency.

Lumo was founded in 2015 by CEO Bala Chandran (PhD, UC Berkeley) and Chief Scientist Hamsa Balakrishnan (Associate Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics, MIT; PhD, Stanford University). Lumo processes terabytes of data to provide detailed insights on potential flight delays months, weeks, and days ahead of time, allowing users to proactively avoid and manage disruptions. The company is already working with GE Digital, Adelman Travel, Flight Centre Travel Group, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and Acendas Travel, in addition to a number of other organizations.

The funding announcement coincides with the company name change from flightsayer to Lumo. The new brand identity and name aim to convey the illuminating analytics and array of technology offered by the company to help organizations improve efficiencies in mobility and optimize their efforts.

“The breadth of our strategic investors reflects the diversity of customers who are excited by what we can do for them”, says Bala Chandran, co-founder and CEO of Lumo. “Flight disruptions cost organizations and passengers billions of dollars every year in inefficiencies, unanticipated travel expenses, traveler friction, and lost productivity. Our technology aims to help the entire travel ecosystem—passengers, airlines, travel management companies, technology providers, travel insurance companies—to proactively manage disruptions by letting them peek into the future to see disruptions before they happen. The funding will help us add to our fantastic team and continue building innovative products for a global audience.”

The adoption of the company’s technology not only benefits travelers, but organizations who serve them such as airlines, travel management companies, online booking tools and others.

“We are constantly evaluating new technologies that will help customers to have a seamless journey and there is huge value in being able to predict and manage weather-related events, says Bonny Simi, President of JetBlue Technology Ventures. “Bala and the team at Lumo are incredibly talented and passionate, and we’re excited to be early investors in their vision.”

Lumo is part of London-based Founders Factory’s accelerator program, as well as Plug and Play’s Travel & Hospitality batch, and was named a finalist in the Business Travel Show’s Disrupt Awards in 2018,  BTN Innovate 2017, and Phocuswright Battleground 2017.