Two former Airbnb executives have joined Impala, a technology company which听aims to power a new generation of travel companies.听
Founded听in 2017, Impala connects hotels to businesses that want to sell hotel rooms and create new guest experiences.听
Impala says it takes away costly integrations and lengthy negotiation听cycles听for听corporate travel companies, tour operators and travel听startups,听so companies can focus on guest听experiences.听
The company has听hired Caroline Hudack as Chief Marketing Officer and Robin Clifford as VP of Global Supply.听
The听two senior hires have recently held leadership positions at Airbnb, where听Hudack听was Head of Marketing for听EMEA听and听Clifford听was Head of Supply for Northern Europe.听听
Hudack听previously听worked听at Facebook,听where she was one of the first Product Marketers in Menlo听Park and then set up Facebook鈥檚 first consumer marketing team in Europe.听Clifford听formerly held senior roles at听Nestorstay听and Booking.com.听听
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Impala听is backed by听Lakestar, Latitude, Kima Ventures and Stride.VC, the same investors who saw the huge potential in the now-giants and household names of Airbnb, Spotify, Trivago,听Travelperk, Zoopla, Monzo, and Deliveroo.听
鈥淎t听Impala we鈥檙e looking to do things differently by building a new travel tech stack that removes the stagnation that鈥檚 stifling innovation,鈥� said听CEO Ben Stephenson.听听
鈥淐aroline and Robin听bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise about how to approach travel differently from their experience at Airbnb, which is one of the largest travel disruptors in the last 10 years.鈥澨�听
Hudack听added: 鈥淚鈥檓听excited to join Impala at such an interesting time for the travel industry. Travel is going to look quite different to how it did before. I believe Impala will have a big role to play in opening up the travel industry to more innovation听and also听creating a听fairer, more sustainable ecosystem.鈥�听
In听March this year, Impala launched its self-serve hotels platform. The self-serve version of its platform enables businesses to automatically plug into Impala鈥檚 global network of partner hotels, including NH Hotels, Iberostar and听Starhotels听properties, and show听availability, prices, upgrade options and more, all in real-time.听听
Clifford听added: 鈥淚mpala鈥檚听technology is changing the face of the hotel industry, for听travelers听and hoteliers alike. I believe that Impala has the potential to disrupt the entire travel sector for the better, and I could not be more excited to join the company to help fuel our growth.鈥�听