Portaga

Portaga challenged the travel distribution technology landscape and the industry has yet to catch up. Its product, "Tripsync," integrated travel booking and administration into Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar. Booking, modifying and re-booking a trip became a drag-and-drop interaction in the calendar, supporting company-wide administration for the SMB's largest expense after payroll. Tripsync also connected directly to suppliers' reservations systems, saving them potentially many millions of dollars in intermediary fees. Tripsync was the: * FIRST integrated booking app, * the FIRST mobile booking app, * the FIRST direct connect to suppliers and * the FIRST "book and hold" capability implemented on the internet. The company began as a consulting firm and morphed into a product company, as expertise and technology accumulated. Eventually, it received over $6 million in institutional investor funding. Unfortunately, the economic implosion of 2008 killed this young, but very promising company.