Kurt, KOMPAS’s co-founder and Chief Product Officer, graduated from the university with a Digital Media Design foundation degree and Digital Media Design top-up degree, completing his studies in 2013.
He said: “Winning the competition came as a huge surprise and has left me absolutely flattered and humbled. It’ll really help put KOMPAS on the map, especially in the UK where a majority of people are Visa customers. We couldn’t have done it without the great team’s input and diligence.”
KOMPAS was started two years ago, when two of Kurt’s co-founders, living in Munich, wanted to see what the city had to offer. After finding no real solution, they started a blog which gained a readership of more than 20,000 within six months. Realising then that they were “adding to the noise”, they wanted to create an innovative solution with greater potential. With their background in behavioural analysis and linguistics, they set about creating a mobile application that would differ from other solutions. Which is when Kurt and another co-founder joined them.
Kurt said: “My experience at Brighton was a three-year life journey to cherish with so many good things and new learning opportunities. It made me who I am today in my career and life and for that, it’s definitely a point of huge importance to me.”
Tom Charman, KOMPAS’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “I believe what made KOMPAS stand out from the other contestants was both a combination of the technology we’re building, but also our ability to integrate with Visa services, providing a completely personalised experience for our end user.”
KOMPAS has raised investment and has won multiple awards for their innovation in travel and technology, with all of the founding team recently being highlighted as ones to watch by startups.co.uk, the online resource for new and growing businesses.