Big data-powered meeting location analysis platform Troop on Wednesday announced a new Covid-19-related information layer that delivers country entry and exit requirements, based on the origin location of each meeting attendee.
The tool already accounts for elements like travel time and sustainability in addition to real-time flight and hotel cost estimates based on individual attendee origin cities. Meeting organizers looking for a gathering place now can assess how much additional agony—or risk of being denied entry—would be involved in a given location from a Covid-19 entry restrictions and requirements standpoint (e.g. PCR testing or quarantine), including whether certain participants might not be welcomed into the target location at all.
The company claims the new functionality allows meeting organizers to see each of these factors, including the Covid-19 travel requirements "within seconds" of initiating the search. The company is working with risk management partner Riskline and Covid-19 data specialist Sherpa to deliver the new information layer, Troop CEO Dennis Vilovic told BTN in an email. "[We're] following our principle of building an ecosystem
of best-in-class services rather than trying to build everything
ourselves," he said.
Troop launched in 2017 as TroopTravel, designed to ease the process of sourcing meeting locations and to put the power of big data in the hands of non-professional meeting organizers. The platform has been adopted by companies like Mondelez, and according to company executives has grown its client base throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
In September, Troop received Series A funding from Steve Singh's Madrona Ventures. Singh also was named chairman of Troop's board of directors at that time. Vilovic told BTN that since the funding round, the company has grown from six to 30 employees in the past four months "and are still hiring." He added that new clients include a major consulting firm and a gaming company.
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This article was updated to include CEO Dennis Vilovic's comments.