How Capitaine Train Is Disrupting Train Ticket Booking Through Engineering

French startup Capitaine Train wants to improve the cumbersome process of booking train tickets online and on your phone. It’s not yet another travel agency, it’s an alternative to popular European ticket booking services with an emphasis on efficiency.

“We want our clients to leave the site as soon as possible,” co-founder and CEO Jean-Daniel Guyot told me in an interview. The company is betting everything on customer experience. Booking a train ticket should be faster, simpler and more pleasant — you don’t want to see any ads if you’re already paying for a ticket. But developing this kind of service is not as easy as it sounds. Capitaine Train had to negotiate with very large companies who are not used to talking with young and fearless startups.

From 2002 to 2009, there was an ongoing anticompetitive practice in France. France’s main railway company SNCF was found guilty of disadvantaging online travel agencies in favor of its own solutions, Voyages-SNCF and Expedia. Three days after the sentence, Capitaine Train was born.

But Capitaine Train didn’t want to become a new travel agency, and the SNCF didn’t get that. At first, the startup got a travel agency license. It wanted the same direct access to the ticket reservation system as the SNCF.

Eventually, the SNCF had to grant access to the reservation system — it was a legal obligation. But it dragged on. Guyot told me that the company was calling the SNCF every week to get a meeting. Every time, the railway company found a new excuse to postpone.

In June 2010, Capitaine Train had no choice but to talk to the press about the difficult negotiations. Many media outlets picked up the news. Oddly enough, the SNCF agreed to meet two days after the public outcry. Six weeks after the meeting, Capitaine Train had a deal in place. But it took more than a year to get there.

Slowly but surely, the startup continued its expansion plans. It signed a deal with Deutsche Bahn and other European railway companies. The startup raised $5.4 million (

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TechCrunch Giveaway: 20 Anki DRIVE Starter Kits And Free Ticket to The Crunchies

The team over at Anki is so thrilled about being a Crunchie Award finalist for “Best New Startup of 2013″ that they’ve decided to show their appreciation to our readers by spreading the Anki love and giving away Anki Drive starter kits (each valued at $199.95) to 20 lucky people. One very lucky person will also receive a free ticket to the Crunchies (valued at $120). This is your chance to take home an Anki Drive and then share your racing experience with the tech industry’s best and brightest at the Crunchies on February 10th.

Anki Drive has been described as “Mario Kart” that comes to life on your living room floor. Did you hear that? Mario Kart! For a hands-on look at Anki Drive, check out Greg’s review below.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is follow the steps below. We will be choosing 10 from each step, and you may do both to double your chances:

1) Comment below telling us what you like about driving/racing

2) Tweet this article with the #Crunchies hashtag

The giveaway will start now and end Wednesday, January 29th, at 7:30pm. Please note the Crunchies ticket is for one ticket only, and does not include airfare or hotel. Also, voting closes tomorrow at 11:59pm PT. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite Crunchies finalists here.

Good luck!

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Groupon’s $260M Acquisition Of Ticket Monster From LivingSocial Has Closed

Today Groupon announced that its purchase of the Korean ticket and ecommerce company Ticket Monster has closed. A document filed with the SEC states that on “January 2, 2014, the Company and Groupon Trailblazer completed its previously reported acquisition of LS Korea.” As the same filing notes, LS Korea, or LivingSocial Korea, was the holding company for Ticket Monster.

The purchase, worth  $260 million, helps Groupon’s international expansion, and could assist it in bolstering its flagging revenue growth rates. In the most recent quarter, Groupon had revenue of $595.1 million, and earnings per share of $0.02.

Ticket Monster could quickly accelerate Groupon’s top line: The business had gross billings on an annual basis of $800 million at the time the acquisition was announced, and 4 million active customers.

As a company, Ticket Monster has seen quick revenue growth, elusive profits, and comes to Groupon with cash and equivalents of a mere $15.1 million. That could explain why LivingSocial was willing to let the business out the door: Given LivingSocial’s own losses, it could be that it lacked the resources to continue to fund the enterprise.

Groupon, on the other hand, is on the cusp of profitability, but has had lackluster revenue growth since its initial public offering. Provided that Ticket Monster’s tangible earnings are not too negative to Groupon’s aggregate non-GAAP income, the fresh revenue could help bring back some of the new parent company’s shine.

Groupon was for a time touted as the fastest growing company of all time. It went public, and watched its stock price fall as profits were scarce, and its famed growth curve flattened.

LivingSocial, a key rival to Groupon, has raised a somewhat incredible $924 million to date. Its struggles in the global market once caused shareholder Amazon to record a $169 million charge. As it appears to constrict its expenses to find profits, its enemy Groupon appears to be a willing assistant, kicking it likely much-needed cash.

Groupon’s cash and equivalents are comfortably over the billion dollar mark, and so it can well afford the purchase.

Investors might not like the dilution that 13.8 million new shares the deal will bring to the company, but if Groupon can begin to grow again like it once did, the naysayers will likely come around.

Top Image Credit: Flickr

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