Louis Lammertyn and Nicolas Guillaume had spent years working in the airline industry, but something didn't sit right with them. Despite their professional success, their moral compass kept pointing toward a troubling reality: aviation was one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions, and travelers had no easy way to make more sustainable choices. They understood the travel industry inside and out, but turning their vision of sustainable travel into a digital solution seemed like a significant challenge.
That's when they decided to do something about it.
Our team sat down with Louis and Nicolas, the co-founders of Bookbetter, to get a glimpse into how someone with no technical background transformed their eco-conscious vision into a working prototype in just three weeks. BookBetter is an online travel platform that helps travelers find and book the least polluting transport option, prioritizing trains or flights with the lowest CO₂ impact, and includes the full cost of 100% sustainable aviation fuel to directly support more sustainable aviation from the start.
Q: Can you tell us about your position in the company, why did you create it and what are its core values?
L.L: Nicolas and I founded Bookbetter to make travel as sustainable as possible. Our goal is to make it easy for travelers to choose the least polluting transport option. We focus on air travel because that is where the biggest impact lies. Our core values are sustainability first and empowering conscious choices.
"We want travellers to be able to book the least polluting option even if that means not flying."
Q: What were the primary challenges you faced before partnering with us?
L.L: Both co-founders come from the sustainable travel sector, but not with an IT background. We didn't have a CTO or technical co-founder yet at that time. We needed a proof of concept to start testing our idea, share it visually, and assess technical feasibility. At that time, we were applying for the Proof of Business program with Innoviris, which required a tangible prototype. We needed someone who could help us turn our idea into a proof of concept, so we could see what we had envisioned become a reality before our eyes. That way, we could learn, share, and show what we were actually visualizing - what we actually had in mind. We also needed to start assessing the technological risk: how difficult is this going to be? How much is it going to cost?
Q: What specific pain points were you encountering in your digital and sustainability effort? And how were they affecting your business operations and goals?
L.L: We lacked the technical capabilities to explore the back-end compatibility of different flight and sustainability APIs. We needed to validate whether we could get the right data efficiently and how the booking tool that includes SAF could work from a technical business standpoint. Without a prototype, we couldn't move forward with funding or user testing. We also couldn't evaluate how to source and combine flight and emissions data or determine the price and usability of the service.
Q: How did you come across our service and what made you choose us over other options?
L.L: During a conversation with Innoviris, they mentioned that for a Proof of Business application, a working POC was essential. They referred us to SustAIn.brussels, where we met Nick and Ludwig. That kicked off the collaboration in late August.
Q: Can you describe the process we went through together to address your challenge?
L.L: We started with a call with Ludwig to clarify our needs, followed by a technical discussion with Nick. He assessed the feasibility of integrating flight and sustainability data from APIs. Nick played the role of an interim CTO, helping us request access to APIs, read technical documentation, and translate everything into plain language. He also helped us understand pricing, red flags in hiring developers, and what to watch for during technical implementation.
Q: How did we help you identify the key areas that needed improvement?
L.L: By diving into the API access process and evaluating data quality, you helped us identify bottlenecks, like slow response times and high data access costs, that would impact the user experience and business model.
Q: What tools or strategies did we implement to assist you in your digital and sustainable transformation?
L.L: You helped us integrate multiple types of APIs: flight data and sustainability calculations. This allowed us to build a working prototype that compares travel options and shows the best available climate impact, including SAF purchases.
Q: What were the immediate changes you noticed after implementing the solutions we provided?
L.L: We had a prototype up and running within three weeks, which allowed us to conduct our first user interviews and validate the core idea with friends, family, and early users. Thanks to the POC, we were able to proceed with our application for Innoviris' Proof of Business funding.
Q: How has your company benefited in terms of efficiency, sustainability, and digital capabilities?
L.L: We better understand the digital landscape, including API integration, technical constraints, and what's realistically achievable in early product development.
Q: How has our collaboration influenced your company's strategic direction?
L.L: Strategically, we've shifted toward integrating multiple data providers to avoid reliance on a single one. The experience showed us the importance of flexibility in technical partners. When one API provider turned out to be too slow or too expensive, we pivoted quickly. It also underscored the value of keeping a neutral, external CTO-type voice onboard to challenge decisions without vested interests.
Q: Would you recommend our services to other companies facing similar challenges?
L.L: Absolutely. For any start-up facing technical uncertainty, especially in sustainability or travel, this kind of external support is crucial to get going in the right direction.
Key Takeaways
This interview with Louis Lammertyn revealed the transformative power of having the right technical support at the crucial early stages of a startup. The key takeaways from BookBetter's journey include:
- Speed matters: From idea to working prototype in just three weeks, enabling immediate user testing and funding applications
- External expertise fills critical gaps: Non-tech founders don't need to hire full-time CTOs immediately - strategic technical partnerships can bridge the knowledge gap in the early days
- ·Validation before investment: A working prototype allowed them to test assumptions and conduct user interviews before investing in full development
- Flexibility is key: Being able to pivot quickly when one API provider didn't meet their needs, thanks to having multiple options evaluated upfront
- Technical translation: Having someone translate complex technical concepts into business language empowered better decision-making
If you want to experience the same rapid transformation from concept to prototype and turn your sustainable business vision into reality, contact sustAIn.brussels and start your journey today. Don't let technical uncertainty hold back your innovative ideas - the right support can get you from zero to testing in weeks, not months.
From Idea to Prototype: How Bookbetter Built Their Eco-Travel Platform in Just Three Weeks