Travel tech company Snowfall is relaunching as Junction in what it says is a “full reset of the business,” with some of its operations understood to have been liquidated.
The company, whose difficulties have been documented in recent months, said its major long-term investor, Korelya Capital, was helping to fund the relaunch, while other unspecified “existing and new investors” are also providing support.
As part of its relaunch, Junction announced the appointment of deputy CEO, Hervé Gilg, former managing director and partner of turnaround and transformation consultants Alvarez & Marsal. In addition, Matthew Turner of investment firm Triton joins the company as chairman of the board.
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BTN Europe has been told by multiple sources that Snowfall’s operations in Canada have been liquidated as part of the "reset," with employees having gone unpaid since July last year. Meanwhile, redundancies have also been made in the UK with remaining staff now employed by a new entity. Several former employees have posted in public forums or informed BTN Europe that they are still owed both salary and pension payments. Junction did not respond to BTN Europe's request for further information on the matter.
In a recent interview with BTN Europe, the company's CEO Stefan Cars addressed accusations of missed salary payments and poor management, claiming the company “was back on track." Those claims were subsequently refuted by a group of employees, who provided details of outstanding salaries to employees in various locations and of other financial irregularities.
The company said in a statement posted on its new website today that the Junction name, as that of its content distribution marketplace, has “been synonymous with seamless connections and innovative solutions, serving as the backbone of Snowfall’s product offering.”
It continued: “Now, the name represents the entire organization, reflecting the company’s dedication to the singular mission of enabling multimodal travel seamlessly and through one innovative travel-tech platform.”
Junction also named Chinese tech company Oppo and ferry operator Ragusa Xpress as new customers but did not provide details on the future of its online booking tool Junction One.
Stefan Cars added: “It is a fragmented ecosystem of disparate travel methods and technologies. In our 20-plus years, we have made great technological leaps, we have often ‘failed fast’ and, most importantly, learned a lot. It’s a bold new chapter that builds on our strong foundation, positioning us to lead the future of multimodality in travel.”
* This article originally appeared on BTN Europe.