START-UP VISA CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: Meet Bruno Santiago, CEO of NeoJets!
Bruno Santiago is the founder of NeoJets, and a seasoned entrepreneur with more than 17 years of experience in advertising. His desire for discovering innovative solutions that are able to transform an industry, combined with his childhood passion for aviation led him to create a technology platform system that makes it easier to book private flights.
What lead you to create your start-up, NeoJets? What does your company do?
I’ve been passionate about aviation since I was a kid. Having created digital products for airlines and charter operators during my career, I saw that although innovation was happening in the industry, there wasn’t any real digital transformation occurring. I thought I had the skill set to reinvent this market.
NeoJets is an end-to-end booking platform for business aviation, catering travel companies, events and conferences and corporations to create their own executive airline to fly their High Net Worth Travellers. It allows charter operators, aircraft management companies, fractional ownership programs and charter brokers to deploy a white label booking system that automates the entire process from aircraft sourcing to payment.
2. Why did you choose to immigrate your start-up to Canada?
After evaluating all the countries that offered start-up visa programs, the Canadian technology ecosystem seemed more developed and provided easier access to the North American market. That, combined with an amazing quality of life, healthcare system and world-class education standards, meant I could have access to top talent and have a great place to live with my family.
3. What has been your greatest achievement since coming to Canada that you believe was made possible by partaking in Canada’s Start-up Visa Program?
Instantly, the business got more recognition and more credibility.
4. What advice would you give to another entrepreneur that was looking into Canada’s Start-up Visa Program?
Do your due diligence on the designated entity that is inviting you! Understand that Canada is not the United State’s most northern state – it’s very different in terms of the funding that is available, the pace of business and culturally as well. That being said fully immerse yourself in Canada’s vibrant tech scene. There’s a lot happening around the Montreal-Toronto-Waterloo corridor, the community is very active and Toronto is becoming a global leader in technology.
5. What is happening with your company now?
We partnered with a UK company and as a result, the company is gaining good traction, along with industry recognition. We operate flights in Canada, the US, Europe and the Middle East – still in low volume, but our business is growing steadily.
6. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
A top global jet manufacturer told us that we have built the best-in-class software.
7. . How do you define success?
Waking up happy!
8. What has been your biggest struggle as an entrepreneur?
The ups and downs of financial stability and the long work days.
To learn more about Bruno and NeoJets visit https://neojets.com andfollow them on Twitter and Instagram.
Quantum Law Group has extensive experience in assisting entrepreneurs under Canada’s Start-Up Visa Program. For more information on how we can assist you, please Contact Us.