CEO Spotlight: Steve Singh of Spotnana

Spotnana

Steve Singh wears many hats. He was announced as CEO of Spotnana in June, adding to his existing roles of executive chairman of Direct Travel, Troop, Spotnana and Center as well as other technology companies. He is also managing director at Madrona Venture Group, which has invested in Direct Travel, Spotnana and Troop. 

Singh continues to pursue his vision of a "Perfect Trip," something he has talked about since his Concur days. His most recent investment, through Madrona, is in business travel AI assistant, Otto.

Steve Singh has been busy of late. In April, he acquired travel management company Direct Travel through his investment company Madrona Ventures and alongside a group of investors. He then stepped into the executive chairman role and brought in a leadership team consisting of former employees from Concur, a company he sold to SAP in 2014.

Next, he announced ambitious plans to combine the travel management company's customer experience strengths with the technology of other companies in which he has invested in recent years - Center, Spotnana, Troop.

At the time, Singh also highlighted that there would be more in his quest to form the "Perfect Trip" with an investment in conversational interface technology to sit on top of Spotnana, a company he became CEO of in June.

The invest was finally announced last week with Madrona Ventures leading a $6 million investment in Otto, an artificial intelligence-powered travel assistant. Direct Travel is also an investor.

In a recent interview with PhocusWire, Singh discussed the significance of the investment as well as whether he still sees opportunities for startups in the corporate travel world.

He touched on wider market dynamics, including the travel distribution landscape, the various approaches from carriers and what he might do if he was an airline CEO.

Singh also spoke about why he has remained in travel, what experience he gained from running Concur for about a decade that he might apply to Direct Travel and Spotnana and whether there are any bets he might have missed out on.

Listen to or watch the full interview below.