At the time of year when the airports are busiest, FlightCaster has announced $1.3 million in funding. FlightCaster launched a service that predicts the probability of a flight leaving on time, reporting up to 6 hours before the airline will announce a delay. Combining data from air traffic control, airport information, airline information and countless other parameters, FlightCaster emerged earlier this year as a nifty but questionable tool.
FlightCaster’s applied use cases were in question, as calculating the probability of a flight delay does not always give a flier the guarantee of making their flight should they change their plans accordingly. A lack of integration with other major travel-planning tools also isolated FlightCaster in its service provisions.
However, The funding of FlightCaster shows interest in its product, though details regarding plans for FlightCaster growth have not been released. Increased features for usability will improve the FlightCaster service based upon its existing functionality. Furthered integration with other services, especially those that are related to travel planning and alerts. Additionally, trending personal concierge services with well-integrated mobile features are targets for FlightCaster integration as well.
According to TechCrunch, FlightCaster has already begun discussions with companies for future inclusion of its predictions services. From airlines and airport information hubs such as RSS feeds and mobile apps to travel planning tools that already offer similar alerts, FlightCaster may have found itself in a nice position.
Whether this is indicative of a future acquisition for Flightcaster or not is too early to determine. The funding of Flightcaster, however, shows the potential behind niche services such as this. Many others that were too far advanced for their time have missed opportunities in not being able to integrate with the services and methods already employed by the average consumer.
As mobile phones make concierge services even more prevalent in our lives, the necessity for personalized updates grows accordingly. With larger companies creating robust mobile apps to connect more directly with consumers, startups such as Flightcaster have more opportunities to become integrated features promoted through these apps, accessing consumers on a broad level.
