In The Big Chair LIVE - Stephan Ekbergh of Travelstart

Stephan Ekbergh, CEO

Travelstart is a South Africa-based online travel agency but with its roots in Scandinavia. It has now expanded into other emerging markets such as the Middle East.

The group's CEO is a DJ-turned-entrepreneur having founded brands such as MrJet in Sweden and, more recently alongside overseeing Travelstart, investing in other startups.

Stephan Ekbergh is a well-known figure in the industry - known for his risk-taking (moving a business to another continent) and open views on the sector's development and issues.

The Travelstart Group is where this Swedish entrepreneur's passion for the business still rests after two decades in the job.

But he is involved in a number of initiatives in and outside of the industry and is a regular on the conference circuit, not least because he is not afraid to call out problems and speak his mind.

Perhaps unusually for the leader of a business, Ekbergh is also not afraid to admit his own failings (of which, he'll concede, there have been many) but always knowing that an individual and a business can learn from them.

In recent months the company has taken on a new funding round (it still has only raised a modest $40 million) and, this week, acquired South Africa's Club Travel Group.

PhocusWire caught up with Ekbergh during the Phocuswright Europe event in Amsterdam, where he took part in our "Big Chair" series of executive interviews.