Munich Startup: The last time we spoke, you said that Lanes & Planes wanted to tap into the European market. Were you able to achieve this goal?
Veit Blumschein, founder and CEO Lanes & Planes: Our last conversation was in spring 2020. Since then, an incredible amount has happened: what were 40 employees back then has since grown to well over 100 “Lanies”. And the business travel volume processed through Lanes & Planes has reached entirely new dimensions. We’ve also more than quadrupled our revenue. The fact that this wonderful development was possible despite the pandemic makes us incredibly proud.
But above all, it also shows that the market continues to have huge potential. We can see very clearly from over 1,000 satisfied companies now using Lanes & Planes that business travel overall is reaching levels similar to before the pandemic. And it’s especially mid-market companies that need digital end-to-end solutions for their travel and expense management more than ever. In this respect, we are not only very satisfied, but also more optimistic than ever that we are on the right path to tapping into the European market.
Lanes & Planes: “The pandemic is now working in our favor”
Munich Startup: What obstacles have you encountered along the way?
Veit Blumschein: Of course, the pandemic was a huge challenge for all companies in the travel industry – including us. However, we used that time very intensively to further improve the Lanes & Planes platform and streamline our internal processes. This now enables us to offer our customers an even better solution and to scale much more efficiently. The fact that the market consolidated quite significantly in some areas during the pandemic is actually now working in our favor.
But we also shouldn’t forget that our enormous growth since the end of the pandemic certainly brought with it one or another challenge: A scale-up that increased its volume almost fivefold within a year after the pandemic needs more mature processes, more intensive communication, and not least more office space to continue working efficiently. All of this certainly took effort and didn’t happen overnight. But it’s clear that it was worth it and we are now well-prepared for the next scaling wave.
Well prepared for the next scaling wave
Munich Startup: How has your solution evolved?
Veit Blumschein: We continuously develop Lanes & Planes and have implemented well over 300 releases – not always just features – for our web application and mobile app over the past two years. In addition to improvements for user experience, we also regularly work on new interface integrations. For example, we now have direct interfaces with Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn, and Sixt. This helps tremendously in securing particularly attractive conditions for our customers. Additionally, integration into the ERP systems (=Enterprise Resource Planning, editor’s note) of our customers is becoming increasingly important. For this reason, we also entered into a strategic partnership with the “All for One” Group this year.
Munich Startup: And how are things looking financially?
Veit Blumschein: We are fortunately in a very comfortable situation because we are financially well-supported so that we don’t need a financing round to become profitable in the medium term. This gives us a lot of security in the current market situation. This allows us to remain true to only working with investors who share our vision, because we don’t rely on fresh capital. At the same time, we have a good idea of how we could sensibly deploy additional capital to put stronger focus on expansion outside of DACH. So the motto here is: “Nothing must, but everything can!”
When growth really takes off, delegate responsibility and trust
Munich Startup: What lessons have you learned as a founding team so far?
Veit Blumschein: One major lesson was definitely that when growth really takes off, you have to build a good management team, otherwise as a founder you simply can’t keep up. Of course, this requires inspiring characters who are also willing to take on responsibility. At the same time, as a founder you also need to be willing to delegate responsibility and place trust in your team. In my personal experience, that sometimes feels strange and takes some effort to overcome. Ultimately, though, it’s the only right step and absolutely essential for real scaling. Plus, it’s incredibly rewarding to see how motivated talents engage with passion for Lanes & Planes and grow tremendously in the process.
Munich Startup: What role did the Munich ecosystem play on your journey so far?
Veit Blumschein: A good network is essential from my perspective. For me, this especially means not neglecting contact with long-standing connections. At Lanes & Planes, we had many wonderful business angels from the start, also from Munich and the surrounding area, who supported us very actively. These include, among others, the founders of Personio and Flixbus. We stay in very regular contact with these people today and exchange ideas. That’s incredibly important and brings us a lot of joy.
Munich Startup: What milestones are you working toward next?
Veit Blumschein: The strong demand for our solution among small and large mid-market companies makes us very confident that in the next three years we will develop into a market leader in the business travel industry in DACH. We expect that by then we will process business travel volume of well over a billion euros through Lanes & Planes for our customers. We are already laying the groundwork for this now. Currently, we’re pleased to find each month anew that we are on absolutely the right path for this.
