Global Settlement Network

Founding team member and Chief Product Officer
globalsettlement.com

Chief Product Officer

Cryptan Labs

One of the founding partners of Cryptan Labs, an emerging tech Web3 and ai-based venture studio working with companies from pre-seed to series A. 

Areas of expertise include: Technical roadmapping, technical due diligence, early product development, user experience research, prototyping, and more.

Co Founder & Head of Development

Yuzu Health

Special Operations | Head of Support

Birdwell Solutions

Started Birdwell Solutions to build mobile apps, web apps, and custom software for startups and small businesses. We specialized in early stage product development and web3 tech (dApps, blockchain, NFTs, metaverse, cryptocurrency, DAOs, DeFi, etc...)

Co-Founder and CEO

Capital Entrepreneurs

A grassroots community organization for startups, entrepreneurs, and community leaders in Madison

Officer

Virtual United Inc.

Our virtual event platform gives communities a space for informal networking, intentional relationship building, and authentic interactions

Founder

gener8tor

At gALPHA we focus on business ideation and collaboration to provide early stage ideas the tools they need to become high growth companies in any industry

gALPHA Associate

University of Wisconsin-Madison

I was a friendly and energetic IT guy who delivered computers to university customers all over campus. Every computer I delivered was accompanied by a smile and people were always happy to see me

Facilitated projects, delegated workflow, created documentation, serviced customers, led student field services team

Cheerful IT Guy Delivering Computers

The Uptown Diner

If you ever visit uptown Minneapolis, go here. Even 5+ years later this place still feels like home and I know most of the staff on a first name basis and receive the employee discount 🤫

Started as host quickly promoted to food runner and then to to-go server and finally server
Took care of patrons and developed regular customers with exceptional service

Server at my all-time Favorite Restaurant

The Minikahda Club

My first job, started during my freshman year of highschool. Taught me that you can have as much fun while playing golf as you want - you can be great and it can be a horrible experience, or you can take 12 shots per hole and have a blast

Caddie

Building the future of tokenized assets
3+ Companies founded. 30+ Applications built. 100+ Companies advised. Product Development, blockchain, and AI expert. 
Benny leads development teams to build emerging tech products.

Minneapolis ✈️ Madison, WI ✈️ Austin ✈️ Miami 📍

🚀 Benny Pekala

Jhon Ruiz

Advisor - Online Travel & Web3

Oversee

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Co-founded by Uri Levine (founder of Waze), Oversee is a B2B travel tech company, focused on offering AI-based solutions to significantly boost travel companies revenue and also their operational efficiency. 

We specialize in AI-powered automation for travel booking processes. All cloud-based and fully automated solutions. We are leaders in the corporate travel space, partnering with top TMCs and Fortune 500 companies like SpaceX and Apple... Now we are also collaborating with travel leisure companies across different sectors. https://oversee.biz/leisure-travel-optimization/

Our AI-powered flight repricing engine can help generate up to 5% new revenue from total booking values – potentially $50M on a $1B TBV.

Main solutions we can offer to help your travel business:

1. Boost Flight and hotel Profits: Post booking, our AI-powered Rebooking engine monitors and captures rate drops, giving you additional post-booking profits while preserving the traveler experience. It offers multiple configurations and customizations. All automated, various configurations, and with machine learning based optimizations algos.

2. Enhance Customer Service Operations:  You can reduce handling times by up to 70%, automate upselling opportunities, automate multiple processes, and improve satisfaction while cutting operational costs... with our CS platform automation and Agent AI solution, for B2B or B2C.

3. Maximize Supplier Discounts: Ensure every contracted discount is applied accurately across all booking channels. Eliminate manual audits and secure continuous monitoring for optimal revenue performance, with our supplier contracts auditing automation.

Director of Business Development

Plug and Play Tech Center

Providing mentoring to startups in the Plug and Play Travel Tech Center Accelerator Program. Web3, Blockchain travel applications, NFTs, Travel marketplaces, Online travel distribution, Sales and Marketing, Go to Market, and Global Business.
Plug-And-Play Tech Center, a Venture Accelerator with 2000+ startups, 180 VCs, 300+ corporations, 9 accelerator-programs, and international-operations.

Mentor/Advisor - Online Travel Startups Accelerator

Airalo

Company: A growth-stage eSim startup, raised $60M in Series B funding in July 2023, with 300 employees.
Product: Provides international travelers with cellular data roaming connectivity across 200+ countries. Travelers get a flexible, affordable, and transparent way to stay connected and continue using their apps while traveling abroad.
Role: Hired and led a 10 member team focused on B2B and B2B2C partnerships, specifically in building eSim sales distribution across the Americas. Responsibilities included hiring sales managers and executives, strategic Go-to-Market planning, and leading business development with strategic partners, affiliate marketing, and resellers.
Clients: From startups to large companies in Fintech, Banks, Travel, Loyalty Programs, Airlines, credit cards, online travel agencies, loyalty programs, deals stores, Hotel brands, Airlines, and telco companies.
Achievements: Building and managing a robust pipeline of high-value prospects, resulting in a projected 80% revenue growth to $2.7M in 2024. Successfully scaling the team from 0 to 10 members to support accelerated growth.

Partnerships Director, North America

Airalo is the world’s biggest travel roaming data connectivity provider, but we do not own any telecomunication networks. Airalo’s eSIM allows travelers to connect to data and voice in over 200 countries and regions. Our eSIMs are easy to use, affordable, and convenient, making them the perfect solution for travelers of all types.

Partnerships Director - Americas

Chain4Travel

Advisor

Company: Early-stage startup building a blockchain infrastructure for the travel industry. The team has secured $4 million in seed funding.
Product: Layer 1 blockchain forked from Avalanche, meticulously designed to bridge the travel industry with the revolutionary world of web3, improving settlement and B2B solutions, and creating new B2C applications.
Role: Fostered strategic partnerships and drove business growth, by identifying and cultivating relationships with key stakeholders.
Clients: Engaged with travel technology and e-commerce companies, application builders, transaction validators, startups, and investors. 
Achievements:
- Expanded the prospect pipeline with over 100 active leads, transitioning 30 to the onboarding process.
Influenced the value proposition and product roadmap. 
- Elevated the marketing messaging, securing the platform alignment with market demands and providing exceptional value to partners/clients.
- Represented the company at numerous web3/blockchain and travel industry events, enhancing brand visibility and establishing thought leadership.

Business Development Director Americas

Kiwi.com

Company: Online travel agency in Europe and the USA, created the revolutionary Virtual Interlining Flights offers. Grew to 1250+ team members and remains one of the top and innovative travel technology companies globally. I had the privilege of joining as the #1 employee in the United States at its remarkable growth stage. 
Product: It creates and offers millions of the world's cheapest and most inventive flight itineraries, changing the way travelers experience air travel booking. Developed by a team of 900 in-house engineers, utilizing machine learning, search optimization, and automated booking and servicing processes.
Role: Developed and executed B2B and B2B2C distribution strategies throughout the Americas. Establishing high-impact partnerships with major OTAs and travel companies to secure new revenue. Successfully integrated API-based solutions with leading travel companies, enhancing their revenue, product offerings, and overall performance.
Clients: Partnered with a wide range of clients, from leading travel corporations to innovative startups.
Achievements:
- Pioneered the Americas B2B distribution channel for virtual interlining solutions, securing partnerships with industry leaders like Booking Holdings, Fareportal, and Hopper. Drove over 3,500 daily bookings, significantly impacting revenue growth.
- Created and implemented a winning market expansion strategy that targeted key regions, players, and sectors, aligning our unique product with industry needs and future opportunities.
- Collaborated with the global team to develop a strategic pipeline of over 1000 prospects, laying the foundation for future partnerships and business growth.
- Led a dedicated team of 4, providing mentorship, guidance, and empowering them to excel in their roles.

Partnerships business development Director - Americas

Skyscanner

Joined as employee #7 in the Americas office, with a leadership role to introduce the flights metasearch model across the LATAM region. Five years later, we achieved over 10 million monthly visitors and became the largest flight comparison site in the region. 
Company: Global leader in online travel search and price comparison, with over 1,350 employees, 200 million app downloads, and serving 130 million monthly online users.
Product: Pioneered online travel metasearch, aggregating content from over 1,500 suppliers, revolutionizing how travelers compare travel options, and find the best travel deals.
Role: Secured partnerships with 90+ partners, airlines, online travel retailers, and startups, contributing to a 10 million+ monthly visitor growth over 5 years and establishing the platform as the largest flight comparison site in the region. 
Achievements:
- Received the 2017 CEO Award for outstanding growth performance, team leadership, and revenue generation. Achieved over 120% year-over-year revenue growth in all LATAM countries for 2 consecutive years.
- Enhanced user experience and platform adoption by securing 90+ agreements and product integrations with airlines, online travel agencies, and marketing agencies.
- Negotiated and secured the largest display advertising deal in the Americas region, valued at over $1,000,000 USD, strengthening the company's market leadership and brand visibility.
- Led the first-ever NDC airline distribution integration in the Americas, partnering with Avianca and AMADEUS to revolutionize airline content distribution and enhance the traveler booking experience.
-Nurtured and fostered a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement within the LATAM squad team, enabling the team to achieve outstanding results.
- June 2015, Launched the Brazilian POS, within 4 months achieved commercial agreements with all top 4 national airlines. Since 2016, kept the market as the third largest revenue contributor globaly.

Senior Commercial Manager - Business Development, LATAM.

Magaya Corporation, Inc.

Company: Modern SaaS company, developing and selling software as a service for the logistics and supply chain management industry.
Role: Managed and expanded the reseller channel, driving a 45% increase in annual revenue through new partner acquisition and existing partner development.
Achievements:
- Collaborated with product and marketing teams to tailor solutions for the reseller channel, ensuring alignment with market needs.
- Contracted, onboarded, and managed 45 new resellers and value-added wholesalers during the initial year, extending the company's reach to regional and international markets.
- Added 60 resellers to the pipeline with a 75% closing rate.
-Conducted comprehensive product and sales training for new resellers, closely monitoring their progress.
-Developed and executed local market marketing strategies in collaboration with resellers, motivating them to surpass sales targets.

Resellers Sales Channel Manager/Partner Manager

ScanSource

It is a leading global provider of hardware solutions, servicing technology resellers worldwide.
Managed the sales and distribution of 3 top manufacturers’ brands, by creating and executing business and marketing plans, and by educating, persuading, and collaborating with our 15 in-house sales managers to increase sales of those brands and products.
- Supervised the Asset/Inventory Coordinator's daily activities and developed effective inventory/stock strategies.
- Implemented various monthly incentive programs, resulting in the distribution of over $30,000 in bonuses to the sales team.
- EPSON brand - immediately increased sales by 12% in Q3/2012 and 30% in Q4, by recovering sales from previously lost accounts, enhancing the inventory levels and customer relationships.
- Datalogic brand - increased sales by 70% in Q4/2012, by focusing all the sales activities on the brand’s top-quality products: handheld and fixed mount scanners.
- Elo Touch brand - increased sales by 30% Y/Y from the top 20 accounts, and increased the number of new accounts by 25%, by improving inventory strategies and marketing activities.
- Accomplished 10 large commercial project deals via presentations, advertising, and trade shows.As a sales manager, I led the execution of business and marketing plans to increase the penetration of three top manufacturers’ brands.

Product Marketing Manager / Business Development

Tourico Holidays

Company: Leading international B2B wholesaler of technology and travel booking products, servicing over 4,900 travel companies, with over 50,000 direct hotel agreements, and boasting 700+ employees in 35 countries. (Acquired by Hotelbeds)
Product: White label search engines and booking engine websites for B2B and B2B2C global distribution of travel products.
Role: Managed and revitalized a global distribution channel of 120+ travel search and booking websites, serving 80+ client companies across 50 countries, and leading 20+ in-house regional sales representatives. Revolutionizing the channel’s revenue generation.
Clients: Online Travel Agencies, Airlines, Tour operators, wholesalers, travel agents, car rental companies.
Achievements:
- Tripled distribution channel revenue from 2009 to the first half of 2012 through strategic sales initiatives and effective team leadership.
- Fostered strong cross-functional collaboration with internal stakeholders, including finance, top management, legal, marketing, sales, product, customer service, and IT development, ensuring alignment and efficient execution of business objectives.
- Re-engaged and recovered 20 previously lost accounts through targeted relationship building, resulting in a 25% increase in total sales within one quarter.
- Led the marketing and supply teams for the rebranding project of 1minutebooking.com, launching it at the ASTA trade show in Las Vegas. By December 2012, doubled platform total sales by $2 million.
- Spearheaded the development and marketing plan of 32 B2C travel websites for American Airlines in 15 markets and 7 languages, bringing over $10M in travel bookings through effective project execution.
- Successfully trained 55 B2C travel agents, in central America, on the functionality of our booking travel website.
- Visited 50 partners located globally from Japan to Argentina, educating them and guide them with marketing and sales plans to increase their market share and profitability.

Marketing and Sales Manager- Worldwide White Label Websites

Visit Orlando

Visit Orlando is the largest tourism government agency promoting the most visited destination city in the United States. It promotes and sells Orlando as a premier leisure, convention, and business destination. I marketed the city as a family vacation destination to the Latin America region, working together with in-country representatives and key travel companies in the industry such as Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Hilton, and Marriot.  It started as a 3-months contract and lasted for 2 more additional periods.

- Created a target list and arrange the meetings to sell advertising placements of a 24 pages’ promo magazine, promoting Orlando’s shopping, lodging, and dining experience.
- Supported sales efforts by conducting market research, identifying potential leads, and assisting with client presentations.
- Coordinated and supported 12 FAMs (Familiarization tours for travel agents)
- Helped with the re-branding of the main website and marketing materials, improving the message to the Latin American, Spain, and Portugal markets.
- Successfully cooperated with the preparation of 14 international tourism tradeshows, securing the company image and business goals.
- Gained valuable experience in the travel industry and developed a strong understanding of the Latin American market.

Travel Industry Sales & Marketing Intern – Latin America

16 plus years helping online travel sellers, technology companies, and start-ups to enter or expand their operations and sales in North America, LATAM and globally. Strategic and innovative commercial leader with specialized knowledge in developing go-to-market strategies, executing business development activities, and leading the performance of regional and international sales teams. Proven track record of securing strategic partnerships with major industry players, and bringing immediate impact through my extensive global industry network through B2B, B2C, and B2B2C value propositions and partnerships. Expertise in building robust sales pipelines, and leading cross-functional teams to deliver innovative travel solutions.  Fluency in English, Spanish, and partial Portuguese.
My career mission, since coding my first C++ algorithms, has been to foster innovation, enhancing user experience, & achieving revenue growth. Supporting impactful growth stage startups, contributing to human evolution.

Master of Science in Blockchain & Digital Currency | University of Nicosia. 
Complete academic foundation in digital assets & payments. Blockchain Systems/Architectures, Entrepreneurship Management, Fintech, Banking/Finance, Law/Regulation, Digital Currency, Smart Contracts, Token Economics, & Principles of Money.
- Deep insight into blockchain's technical, business, and innovative applications such stablecoinsa and payments.
- Analyzed digital currency impacts on global finance, banking, & monetary policy.
- Blockchain System Designs. Developing cryptocurrency ecosystems, from decentralized architectures to smart contracts.
- Regulatory Navigation: Evaluated diverse regulatory landscapes (payments, legal, commerce) and their digital asset implications.
- Strategic Opportunity Identification. Applying digital currency solutions to drive business growth.
Innovation Management:  managing, & predicting innovation in the rapidly evolving digital asset space.

Markets: 8 years each in North America, 8 years Latin America, 6 years in EU & Asia.

Sector Expertise:
Blockchain & Digital Assets: 2 years in travel blockchain (network building, development, investment)
Travel Tech: 14+ years across online travel metasearch, B2B distribution (flights, hotels), eSim
AI: 1 year experience in AI-based revenue optimization.

Completed The PowerMBA, focusing on innovative startup scaling from leaders founders of YouTube, Airbnb, Netflix.
Specialties: Crypto, strategic leadership, partnerships, business strategy, international sales team management, data analysis.

Head of Business Development Americas/ TravelWeb3 (Freelancer)

Building the Camino blockchain brand and growing the ecosystem participants from validators to decentralized application developers in the Americas.  Advising the travel industry on how to be part of this innovation, and how to use this tool to significantly enhance their value proposition. It is the most advanced-3rd generation blockchain, Avalanche tech, created around the travel industry needs and to connect the industry with the growing world of web3 via B2C applications, to enhance companies' processes, and to create new B2B solutions. It is an open-source, layer-1 blockchain operated and governed by the global travel industry. 80+ travel and tech companies already joined the network.

taplio

The Battle

🚀 Benny Pekala

Jhon Ruiz

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?