Skyroam’s WIFI HotSpot Allows You to Stay Connected Globally

Eric Plam, Vice President and General Manager for Skyroam Inc. helps travellers stay connected to the people and things they care about most as they travel around the world. Eric Plam is part of our Travel Massive San Francisco chapter and a highlighted Travel Massive Sponsor. Dive in as we ask Eric a few questions about what it was like to build Skyroam and where they found success.

What is your brand about? 

Our brand is about making the traveler’s journey simpler. Skyroam is a personal, global WiFi hotspot that provides travelers a fast and secure mobile wi-fi each time they step foot into a new country across 6 continents.  Our brand is about giving valuable time back. It’s about making all of their online needs come to life, everywhere.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California and with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, Skyroam offers global data access in over 80 countries worldwide.

Who is your brand for?

Our brand is for global travelers who want to stay connected to the things they enjoy as they move around the world. Our audience is a specific traveling set – prosumers, who travel for both business and pleasure, who want the freedom associated with a secure connection wherever they are.

Is there a unique story of how it came to be?

Our founder, Jing Liu is a technology pro who happened to also be a travel zealot. Through his own travel challenges, he discovered it was impossible to stay connected for a reasonable price. Mirroring his usage habits at home was completely out of the question, so he developed a virtual SIM which can uniquely change carriers on a device as it moves around the world. This is the magic that keeps our product connected.

What makes your brand different from others?

We’re offering a consistent connectivity experience that never existed before. Other companies provide data service internationally, using a roaming SIM which are often expensive and can have added security risks. With our product, you turn it on, press the start button. Ultimately what we’re providing is the luxury of time to create more meaningful memories during travel. We’re giving that time back to travelers so when they arrive at their destination, they can instantly go enjoy the things they’re there to do.

How do you work with bloggers, vloggers, or the travel industry to amplify your brand?

We’re integrated and trying to serve the same customers that a lot of big travel brands are including air travel, lodging, and ground transportation. Bloggers and vloggers are emerging as a very important medium of communication, especially with millennials. In turn, they’re becoming a great way for us to communicate the value of Skyroam and becoming more important to us as we get our message out.

Do you have any tips for finding and securing investors or gaining traction in the industry?

The first is to be very clear in your value proposition. How are you solving problems for travelers? Do they clearly see the value you add to their travel experience? Are you able to clearly communicate this to potential investors? Do you have a path for revenue and value creation? 

Another angle is alternate sources of funding. There’s lots of competition trying to attract Silicon Valley venture funding, so Skyroam has relied on funding from China and other parts of the world as well. The world is becoming much smaller, so it’s important to tap into that and leave fewer stones unturned globally.

How has travel changed since your company entered the travel industry?

Travel has changed significantly over last few years. One of those areas is the proliferation of mobile-first applications that make it easy to book travel and find information on the go. You have travellers taking control of their travel needs spontaneously, whereas before they were limited due to connectivity.

How will the way consumers travel change in the future?

In the future, travelers will expect even more seamlessness in terms of communication and access to personalized mobile applications as they travel. One key piece will be content-aware applications that know where you are, your preferences, and what you want to do. This will remove steps and complexity from booking travel as well as enhance the overall travel experience.

Why do you attend Travel Massive events?

We’re very interested and are an involved Travel Massive partner. We see tremendous value that the organization brings to its community and are committed to continued engagement. Travel Massive community members are very unique, are the emerging set of global travelers, and are exactly the type of people who need to stay connected to the solution Skyroam delivers. We attend Travel Massive events because we really appreciate the perspective of the community. We see that it is both identifying and driving innovation in travel. We’ve already made some great contacts and connections with Travel Massive.

Travel Start-Up is a monthly series that profiles unique online travel start-ups in the Travel Massive community around the world. Connect with Skyroam on Travel Massive and Twitter.