Hepstar
Hepstar is a Cape Town-based B2B platform aggregating 80,000+ travel ancillary products from 25+ global suppliers, enabling airlines, OTAs, rail, and bus operators to merchandise personalised travel insurance and ancillary extras via a single API on a transaction-based revenue share.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Hepstar does
Hepstar is a private travel-technology company headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, operating a B2B2X distribution platform that aggregates travel ancillary products and surfaces them inside airline, OTA, rail and bus booking flows. Founded in 2013 and rebuilt around its merchandising stack in 2016, the company positions itself as an ancillary aggregator that reduces the integration burden for travel distributors by exposing 80,000+ product variations across 21 categories, sourced from 25+ global suppliers, through a single free API connection. Its principal product vertical is travel insurance, complemented by global connectivity (eSIM/Wi-Fi), Refund Protect cancellation waivers, SmartDelay lounge access, Blue Ribbon Bags baggage recovery, The ENTERTAINER lifestyle benefits, and emerging sustainability and security products.
The platform is delivered through four technology modules: OmniAPI (a real-time product-and-content recommendation engine with sub-600ms response), a device-responsive White Label site for post-booking upsell, an Agent Portal for back-office sales, and a Sales Dashboard for cross-channel performance monitoring. The recommendation engine uses machine-learning profiling of anonymous customer signals combined with A/B and multivariate testing, dynamic pricing, and content adaptation to optimise revenue per booking. Technology integrations with CRS/PSS providers (AeroCRS, Resfinity/ANIXE, Hitit) and aggregators (CarTrawler, Busbud) extend distribution to the installed bases of those partners without per-airline direct sales effort. The platform runs on AWS and is certified to PCI DSS and GDPR standards.
Hepstar monetises via transaction-based commissions on ancillary sales, supplemented by marketplace commissions connecting suppliers with distributors and implicit white-label technology licensing — there are no upfront platform fees for the standard integration. The customer base spans airlines (easyJet, Gulf Air, Royal Brunei Airlines, Airlink, Winair, Kam Air, Myanmar Airways International, Dan Air, Air Kenya, Lift, Auric Air), OTAs (Travix, Eilago, Hippo, Neredennereye.com/Busbud), rail (RailEurope), car rental distribution (CarTrawler) and insurance (ERGO). The company raised $2M in seed funding from Amadeus Capital Partners and Plug and Play's Traveltech Accelerator in 2019 and has continued to add suppliers and partners (Air Doctor in 2023, UrSafe in 2023, Blue Ribbon Bags and Hitit in 2025) without a subsequent disclosed funding round.
Hepstar firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hepstar
- Legal name
- Hepstar
- Website
- https://hepstar.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Hepstar is a Cape Town-based B2B platform aggregating 80,000+ travel ancillary products from 25+ global suppliers, enabling airlines, OTAs, rail, and bus operators to merchandise personalised travel insurance and ancillary extras via a single API on a transaction-based revenue share.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hepstar industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Travel Ancillary Technology
- NAICS
- All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (561599), Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (5615)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Group, Contract & Wholesale Rate Optimization (B2B Pricing) (THALAOAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Online Booking & Reservation Platforms (B2B/B2C) (THALAMAA), Corporate Travel & Expense Booking Platforms (BPAMAIAI)
Keywords
Where Hepstar is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cape Town
- HQ country
- South Africa
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices1 record
Markets served
Hepstar business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Transaction-based ancillary revenue share: Hepstar earns commissions on ancillary products sold through its platform. Partners access 80,000+ product variations across 21 categories through a single integration and share revenue from sales. The company operates on a commission basis with no upfront fees, generating revenue when travellers purchase ancillary products during or after booking.
- Marketplace commission: As an aggregator connecting travel brands with global ancillary suppliers (insurance providers, service operators), Hepstar earns a marketplace commission on transactions facilitated through its network of 25+ integrated suppliers across multiple geographies.
- White-label technology licensing: The company provides white-label and API technology solutions to travel brands, enabling them to offer personalised ancillary products. Revenue is generated through the transaction flow facilitated by their technology stack.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Single free integration to access full product portfolio |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | No fees, no friction model for travel distributors |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Hepstar product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hepstar operates a B2B travel ancillary merchandising platform that aggregates 80,000+ product variations across 21 categories from 25+ global suppliers and distributes them to travel brands through APIs, white-label websites, and agent portals. The platform uses machine-learning recommendation engines to personalize ancillary offerings such as travel insurance, cancellation waivers, eSIM, lounge access, and baggage recovery during the booking flow, with continuous A/B testing and dynamic pricing optimization.
Product overview
Hepstar is a travel ancillary distribution platform aggregating 80,000+ product variations across 21 categories, primarily focused on travel insurance distribution and merchandising. The core product portfolio includes Travel Insurance (with budget, compact, and family variants), Global Connectivity (eSIM and Wi-Fi), The ENTERTAINER (lifestyle deals), SmartDelay (flight delay compensation and lounge access), Refund Protect (cancellation waivers including CFAR), and Blue Ribbon Bags (baggage recovery). These products are delivered through four technology modules: OmniAPI (real-time recommendation engine for booking flow integration with sub-600ms response), Agent Portal (access-controlled UI for agent sales), White Label (standalone device-responsive sales site for distributors), and Sales Dashboard (real-time cross-channel performance analytics). The platform uses behavioral analytics and machine learning to personalize product recommendations based on customer profiles and optimize revenue per booking through A/B testing, dynamic pricing, and bundled offerings.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- OmniAPI: Dynamic product and content recommendation for booking flow integrated offers with system response time under 600ms.
- Agent Portal
- White Label
- Sales Dashboard
Products and services
- Travel Insurance Core travel insurance product aggregating coverage from multiple global insurers including Chubb and ERGO, with budget, compact, and family variants offering trip cancellation, medical coverage, and travel inconvenience protection. Sold to airline, OTA, rail, and bus partners via API, white-label, or agent portal.
- Global Connectivity
Quantifiable outcome
- 50%+ increase in revenue per booking for partners
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Hepstar
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Hepstar technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability7 records
Feature7 records
Hepstar partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- HititcoreExisting integration with Hitit PSS Platform enables Hitit partners to access Hepstar's world of ancillary content including insurance, cancellation waivers, eSIM, baggage recovery, transfers, and delay lounge access through existing connection.
- UrSafecoreFirst personal security app with hands-free voice activated SOS, integrated with emergency and law enforcement services in over 150 countries. UrSafe joins Hepstar's global ancillary network to be offered during travel booking process.
- Air DoctorcoreGlobal platform connecting international travellers to local medical professionals joins Hepstar's ancillary network. Air Doctor connects travellers to over 20,000 approved doctors across 75 countries via multi-lingual, location-based App. Hepstar will recommend Air Doctor subscription packages appropriate for traveller needs.
- ChubbflagshipLong-standing relationship with Chubb as insurance supplier. Partnership includes Royal Brunei Airlines collaboration where Chubb provides travel insurance with extensive coverage including COVID-19 medical cover, delivered through Hepstar's platform to airline passengers.
- Royal Brunei AirlinesflagshipRoyal Brunei Airlines partnered with Chubb (via Hepstar) to offer travel insurance to passengers. Insurance launched in Brunei with expansion to additional markets planned. Provides passengers with peace of mind and fuss-free booking experience.
- EilagocoreOnline travel agency partnership to offer Cancellation for Any Reason product. Eilago's customer-centric value proposition combined with Hepstar's technology enables personalised bundles and improved customer experience before and during trips.
- AeroCRScoreIT provider of innovative solutions for airlines. Collaboration enables airline customers to add relevant travel ancillary products during booking and manage my booking processes. Integration already completed for quick activation.
- ANIXE/ResfinitycoreProgressive travel tech company. Integration through Resfinity enables Hepstar's ancillary products and services to be available to ANIXE's customers out of the box without additional development work or integrations.
Scale indicators16 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Hepstar competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cover Genius: Cover Genius is a global insurance distribution platform that embeds protection products (including travel) into partner checkout flows via APIs, with dynamic pricing and personalisation. It is the closest direct competitor to Hepstar in B2B travel ancillary insurance merchandising.
- Bolttech: Bolttech operates an embedded insurance marketplace connecting insurers with distribution partners across travel, electronics and lifestyle, very similar in concept to Hepstar's multi-supplier, single-integration ancillary platform.
Broad incumbents
- Amadeus: Amadeus is a leading GDS/provider of travel technology with a broad ancillary and merchandising portfolio that overlaps with Hepstar's airline and travel-distribution value proposition, but as part of a much wider suite serving the entire travel ecosystem.
- Sabre: Sabre is a global GDS and travel technology incumbent offering ancillary merchandising, NDC and airline retailing capabilities that compete with Hepstar at the airline/OTA distribution layer.
- Travelport: Travelport is a global GDS that offers ancillary content and merchandising tools to airlines and travel agencies, operating as a broader incumbent in the same ecosystem as Hepstar's API integrations.
- Allianz Travel: Allianz Travel is one of the largest global travel insurance providers and distribution players, offering airline and OTA partnerships that overlap with Hepstar's insurance merchandising focus.
- Kiwi.com: Kiwi.com is a large OTA with proprietary ancillary and insurance offerings, representing a downstream competitor/partner that competes with Hepstar in distribution and merchandising of travel extras.
Emerging players
- AirHelp: AirHelp is a flight compensation and traveller rights platform that competes in the flight-delay and disruption ancillary categories that Hepstar also distributes (e.g., SmartDelay).
- Spotnana: Spotnana is a modern corporate travel platform with built-in NDC content and ancillary merchandising capability, representing a newer architectural approach that competes with Hepstar's airline/OTA merchandising layer.
- Duffel: Duffel provides an API-first flight and travel booking platform with ancillary support, comparable to Hepstar in its API-first, B2B distribution philosophy but more focused on the booking layer itself.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Hepstar social profiles
Digital presenceHepstar compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Hepstar financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hepstar leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Hepstar funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hepstar M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hepstar
What does Hepstar do?
Hepstar operates a B2B travel ancillary merchandising platform that aggregates 80,000+ product variations across 21 categories from 25+ global suppliers and distributes them to travel brands through APIs, white-label websites, and agent portals. The platform uses machine-learning recommendation engines to personalize ancillary offerings such as travel insurance, cancellation waivers, eSIM, lounge access, and baggage recovery during the booking flow, with continuous A/B testing and dynamic pricing optimization.
Is Hepstar a public or private company?
Hepstar is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Hepstar founded?
Hepstar was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Hepstar based?
Hepstar is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Africa region.
How does Hepstar make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Transaction-based ancillary revenue share is the primary driver. The others are marketplace commission and white-label technology licensing.
Who are Hepstar's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cover Genius and Bolttech. Broad incumbents are Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport, Allianz Travel and Kiwi.com. Emerging players are AirHelp, Spotnana and Duffel.
Does Hepstar have an API?
Yes. API-based technology platform that enables travel distributors to integrate Hepstar's ancillary product aggregation and recommendation engine into their booking flows. Supports booking flow sales (API), standalone white label sales, and back-office agent portal sales. Dynamic product and content recommendation system with sub-600ms response time. Integrates via Standard (full optimization features), Custom (selected features), or Indirect (through third-party IBE host) integration options.
What industry is Hepstar in?
Hepstar's product category is Travel Ancillary Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THALAOAH, Group, Contract & Wholesale Rate Optimization (B2B Pricing), with a secondary code of THALAMAA, Online Booking & Reservation Platforms (B2B/B2C). Its NAICS code is 561599.