Singh takes over from Waghmar as Spotnana CEO

Spotnana’s co-founder Sarosh Waghmar is stepping down from his role as the tech platform’s CEO and will be replaced by the company’s executive chairman Steve Singh.

Waghmar, who announced the change in a LinkedIn post, will now transition to the role of chief product officer as well as being co-chairman of Spotnana.

Singh, who co-founded travel and expenses specialist Concur, is now a travel technology investor, alongside his role as Spotnana’s executive chairman.

The change in CEO comes at a pivotal moment for Spotnana and for Singh, whose investment firm Madrona Ventures acquired US travel management company Direct Travel in April, where Singh currently serves as executive chairman and presumably will continue to do so. He has recently hired a number of former Concur executives to senior posts at the newly acquired TMC. 

The Direct Travel purchase took place just weeks after American Express Global Business Travel’s announced a deal to acquire CWT, one of GBT’s nearest rivals in size and client scope. 

CWT is the only major global TMC so far to publicly promote a partnership to serve the Spotnana technology stack to clients. Whether that partnership continues after the acquisition by Amex GBT is currently unclear. 

What is known, however, is that Spotnana in its own right as a TMC has gained client traction. Waghmar wrote in a blog post on Monday that the company had “launched multiple Fortune 100 companies on our platform” in the first few months of 2024.

Sportnana has also “deployed our first customers with CWT” and “announced new partnerships with Expensify, JTB Business Travel and Goodwings“. 

Waghmar said of the transition to a new CEO: “Steve is an exceptional leader with decades of experience leading high-growth companies. Since Spotnana’s earliest days, he has believed in our vision to provide an open platform, and he continues to be a huge believer in Spotnana and in me.” 

He also reassured clients that he and Singh are “fully aligned” in terms of the company’s vision and how to execute it both as a TMC and a travel-as-a-service platform provider to others. 

Singh and Madrona Ventures have also invested in recent years in other managed travel technology platform players, such as payment specialist Center and Troop for meetings sourcing.