concierge
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The Startup That Turned the Office Supply Closet Into Software
Kathryn Madden built OfficeLuv around a boring truth: someone always ends up ordering the paper towels. Her bet was that the someone should be software - plus a person who shows up.
Flowtel
Flowtel is a San Francisco startup (Y Combinator W25) building an AI operating system for hotels. Its voice and chat agents answer guest calls and messages and complete routine tasks - room bookings, dining and spa reservations, amenity requests and concierge questions - handing off to human staff only when needed. The pitch is a high-touch guest experience for properties that cannot staff a 24/7 front desk. The company was founded in 2024 by Eylon Miz and is led by a small team based in San Francisco.
Skylark
Skylark is a New York-based luxury travel company that fuses a slick online booking platform with a bench of human travel advisors. Clients search five-star hotels and privately negotiated airfare online, then hand the messy parts - upgrades, transfers, spa bookings, itinerary changes - to a real person over phone, text, email or chat. Positioned as the only true hybrid online-offline agency, Skylark packages VIP hotel perks (room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, resort credits) through its Virtuoso membership and industry partnerships.
Duckbill
Duckbill is a Boston-based service that combines AI with trained human assistants - called copilots - to take the dreaded everyday tasks and endless life admin off your plate. Members hand off to-dos like disputing a bill, booking appointments, researching long-term care, or planning a party via text, email, app, voice memo, or chat, and a copilot, supported by AI, researches and executes them. Founded in 2022 by Meghan Joyce and Emi Gonzalez, the company raised a $24.75M Series A in 2023 led by Forerunner Ventures.
John Paul
John Paul is a Paris-based premium concierge and customer-loyalty company that operates white-label services for luxury brands and enterprises. Founded in 2007-2008 by David Amsellem, it pairs human concierges with a proprietary CRM platform to manage the relationships brands have with their most valuable clients and employees. After merging with US rival LesConcierges in 2015, it was acquired by AccorHotels in 2016 and now runs as a business accelerator inside the Accor group, serving clients such as Visa, Hyundai, Orange and luxury houses across automotive, finance, fashion and travel.
Freemodel
Freemodel is a presale home renovation company that designs, manages, and pays for renovations before a homeowner sells - then collects from escrow at closing. Local project directors run the job; the homeowner sells for more.