Wayfare Ventures, where Dave Berkus is a Managing Partner of this 2018 vintage fund,  is already making investments in early stage companies in the travel technology industry.  Founded as a result of a discussion with the Executive Director of the industry’s premiere association, HFTP, five partners have come together to found the venture firm.

Partners include Prakash Shukla, former VC and former CIO of the TAJ hotel chain, Jeff Lapin, former President of Starwood Hotels and current member of numerous travel tech boards, Jyoti Narang, recent COO of Taj Hotel Group, and Ned Cloonan, former VP of AIG, one of the world’s most influential Wall Street finance industry companies.

Wayfare’s advisory board consists of “who’s who” of the travel industry, including:

• Terry Jones, founder of Travelocity and Chair of Kayak
• Krishna Palepu, Ross Graham Walker Professor at Harvard Business School
• Monika Nerger, Global Chief Information Officer, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
• Laurent Idrac, Group Chief Information Officer, Accor Hotels
• Rashesh Jethir, SVP Engineering & Head of Innovation for Airlines, Amadeus
• Jim Armstrong, Partner, March Capital Partners
• Ellen Keszler, Former executive at American Airlines, Sabre and Travelocity
• Frank Wolfe, CEO HFTP
• Dennis Reynolds, Dean, Barron Hilton School of Hospitality University of Houston
• Michael Levie, COO, CitizenM Hotels