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Leading the Future of Travel

“You can’t build a great company without trust from your
customers, your team, and your partners.”

Sam S. Jain

Founder & Executive Chairman

Founder Story

Sam S. Jain

Founder & Executive Chairman

Sam S. Jain founded Fareportal after recognizing how manual, fragmented processes were limiting innovation in the travel industry. Beginning with the launch of Farebuzz and later self-funding Fareportal, he built the company into a technology-first platform through strategic acquisitions such as Travelong and OneTravel.

Jain pioneered the hybrid OTA model combining digital booking with 24/7 live agent support and led Fareportal to become the first OTA to integrate ancillaries like seats and bags directly into the booking flow.

His focus on automation, data, and system design established the foundation for Fareportal’s next chapter: an AI-powered travel ecosystem that supports partners, transforms customer experience, and scales globally.

As Executive Chairman, Jain now guides strategy, leadership development, and long-term innovation while continuing to champion community impact initiatives.

Board of Directors

Brian Hand

Member, Board of Directors and Secretary

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Werner-Georg Kunz-Cho
Vice Chairman Member, Board of Directors
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Steve Cooperberg
Member, Board of Directors
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Bernd Strenitz
Member, Board of Directors
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What Drives Our Leadership

Fareportal’s leadership blends decades of industry expertise with a forward-thinking technological vision.
Together, they guide our evolution from a global travel company into an AI-driven platform built to power
the next generation of consumer and enterprise travel experience.

Leadership

Amit Singh
President
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Gary Starr

Chief Financial Officer

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Naveen Gunti

Chief AI & Technology Officer

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Yuvraj Datta

Chief Supply & Revenue Officer

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Mark Neirick

Head of Performance marketing

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Amandine Aman

VP of Branding & Head of UI

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Scott Marean

Chief Operations Officer

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Richard Pasquier

General Counsel

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Jeremy Wee

Head of People & Culture

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Brian Hand

Member, Board of Directors and secretary

Brian M. Hand is a principal of Jusmedico Law Group and has represented Fareportal as corporate counsel since its inception. Mr. Hand has over 35 years experience representing public and private companies, both domestic and international, in a variety of industries, including financial services, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, healthcare, travel, consumer services, and family offices. His areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities offerings, secured finance, corporate governance, technology licensing, research and development collaborations, executive employment issues and other corporate and commercial matters. Mr. Hand is a member of the State Bar of New York and the Business, International and Science and Technology Law sections of the American Bar Association.

Werner-Georg Kunz-Cho

Vice Chairman Member, Board of Directors

Werner brings over 35 years of experience to the travel industry. Prior to Fareportal, Werner was the CEO of OneTravel.com, a leading online travel agency, VP of Business Development at Lufthansa Systems, Director of Marketing and Sales North America at CityBird Airlines, General Manager North America at Swissair’s charter division, Balair/CTA, and Director Operations at Travac Tours and Charters.

Steve Cooperberg

Member, Board of Directors

Steven Cooperberg is a tax partner with a regional Certified Public Accounting firm. Mr. Cooperberg has over 20 years of experience in public accounting, providing tax planning and tax advisory services to a diverse clientele, including clients in the travel and travel-related spectrum. His areas of practice include domestic and international tax planning, multi-state tax advisory services, working with closely-held multi-generational businesses and their corresponding principles, as well as representing clients involving federal and state tax controversies. Mr. Cooperberg has extensive experience with start-up entities as well as with established, mature companies. Prior to his work in public accounting, Mr. Cooperberg was a large case field agent with the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Cooperberg is a Certified Public Accountant in NYS and received a BS Degree in Accounting and a Master’s Degree in Taxation from Pace University.

Bernd Strenitz

Member, Board of Directors

Bernd Strenitz is an experienced entrepreneur and innovation-focused leader with a proven track record in e-commerce and technology. Having founded and successfully exited two e-commerce tech startups—one acquired by 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. and the other by The Orchard (Sony Music Entertainment)—Bernd brings deep expertise in operational excellence and technology-driven growth.

With leadership experience as CEO, COO, and CPO, Bernd specializes in formulating and executing comprehensive business strategies, ensuring teams and companies are set up for sustainable growth. Prior to taking on operational and innovation-led roles, he worked in corporate finance advisory, focusing on public and private mergers and acquisitions, both sell-side and buy-side. Bernd studied Business Administration & Global Commerce at the Vienna University of Economics before transferring to the London School of Economics, where he earned a BSc in Management.

A native Austrian, he has lived and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States for over 25 years and has spent significant time in India, embracing a global perspective on business and culture. Beyond business, Bernd is a passionate traveler, believing that travel is one of life’s most enriching experiences. With firsthand insight into the challenges of modern travel, he sees technology as a way to make the booking experiences seamless and magical.

Amit Singh

President

Amit Singh serves as President of Fareportal, leading the company’s global operations, strategic direction, and next chapter of growth. He is responsible for accelerating innovation, strengthening worldwide performance, and elevating the customer experience across Fareportal’s global travel technology ecosystem.

Amit brings a wealth of leadership experience and an impressive track record of driving business growth across the travel and technology industries. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer at Despegar, a leading travel technology company in Latin America listed on the New York Stock Exchange, where his leadership contributed to growth, stronger shareholder engagement, and delivering industry-leading returns. Amit previously held senior finance leadership roles at Nasdaq and NYSE-listed technology firms. He also spent several years on Wall Street as an equity research analyst and investment banker, advising companies in the technology sector. Earlier in his career, Amit worked as an engineer at Ensco.

Amit holds a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland. He also completed an executive education program for Chief Financial Officers at Harvard Business School.

Gary Starr

Chief Financial Officer

Gary Starr is Fareportal’s Chief Financial Officer and oversees the company’s global financial strategy and operations. He is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience leading Finance, Accounting, Legal Affairs, HR, IT and Business Operations.

Gary brings extensive private and public company experience, especially in scaling high growth driven companies, having held senior leadership roles at Madison Logic, Affinity Solutions, Newsweek DailyBeast and Archstone Consulting. At Madison Logic, Gary played a pivotal role in the strategy and execution of the company’s meteoric growth, culminating in a lucrative sale for its employees and investors.

Earlier in his career, Gary worked at American Express and Time Inc. in a variety of different financial roles. He has also served on a number of nonprofit boards. 

Naveen Gunti

Chief AI & Technology Officer

As Chief AI and Technology Officer, Naveen Gunti drives innovation and transformation by leading Enterprise IT, Engineering, Product, Infosec, and Data teams. They align cutting-edge AI and technology strategies with business goals to deliver scalable, secure, and intelligent solutions.

Naveen brings over 30 years of IT leadership, driving global digital transformation across retail, eCommerce, logistics, and supply chains. He most recently served as VP, Head of International Logistics, Digital, and Technology at AEO, and previously led global eCommerce tech and operations at Fast Retailing Co., supporting brands like Uniqlo, Theory, and Helmut Lang. His earlier roles include senior leadership positions at Tumi and Brooks Brothers, as well as CTO of a fashion eCommerce platform. Naveen is recognized for delivering scalable, AI-driven solutions and spearheading modernization initiatives that prioritize innovation, efficiency, and measurable business impact.

Naveen earned his bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) in India. He graduated at the top of his class and was awarded a gold medal upon completing his master’s degree in computer science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence from Dayalbagh University. Additionally, he holds an MBA with dual concentrations in Finance and Marketing.

Yuvraj Datta

Chief Supply & Revenue Office

Yuvraj Datta is Fareportal’s Chief Supply and Revenue Officer and leads our Supplier Relations team and Revenue Management function.

Yuvraj brings extensive expertise in supplier management, revenue strategy, and commercial alignment, with a career spanning over 25 years. Prior to joining Fareportal, he served as Chief Commercial Officer at Mondee Inc., and previously held executive leadership roles including GM, COO, and President at Skylink. Known for his sharp commercial lens and collaborative leadership style, Yuvraj will play a key role in accelerating Fareportal’s global growth by driving strategic supplier partnerships, performance analytics, and optimized pricing.

Yuvraj earned a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Mathematics & Physics from Delhi University.

Mark Neirick

Head of Growth Marketing

Mark leads customer acquisition and lifecycle strategy across Fareportal’s portfolio of travel brands.

He’s spent over 20 years figuring out what makes people say yes — and then building systems to make it happen at scale. He served as CMO of CLEAR, building the marketing engine that grew the company to millions of members. At American Express, he built the Online Gift Card business from the ground up into a billion-dollar enterprise. Most recently, he worked as a fractional CMO and growth advisor, consulting on growth and marketing strategy for brands such as Etsy and FoundersCard.

Mark earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA from Northwestern University.

Amandine Aman

VP of Brand and Head of UX

Amandine Aman currently serves as VP of Branding and is Head of UX at Fareportal, where she leads brand strategy and UX/UI design for CheapOair and OneTravel, with a focus on improving the digital travel experience across web and mobile apps.

Amandine spent several years at Uber, where she helped launch cities across EMEA and later joined the global growth marketing team in San Francisco. She played a key role in the international rollout of Uber’s new brand identity in 2018.

She later served as CMO at Le Wagon, a leading global tech training school operating in 20+ countries with more than 40 campuses, where she led global marketing and brand growth.

Amandine began her marketing career in Europe working for global brands Mars Inc. and McCain Foods, as well as startups such as Luko. She is also drawn to marketing for impact, having worked as a fractional CMO with mission-driven organizations such as Endless, focused on unlocking human potential through technology.

Scott Marean

Chief Operating Officer

Scott Marean serves as Chief Operating Officer of Fareportal, where he oversees global contact center operations across the company’s CheapOair and OneTravel brands. His priorities center on technology-driven transformation of the customer experience, including deploying conversational AI across voice and chat channels, consolidating agent-facing systems, and modernizing cloud infrastructure while leading teams across the globe.

Prior to joining Fareportal, Scott served as a divisional SVP/CTO at FIS, one of the world’s largest FinTech firms, where he led global product development organizations. In that role, he drove cloud and SaaS modernization initiatives across Capital Markets, Fund Administration, Private Equity, and Risk platforms while also leading the technology due diligence and integration of multiple acquisitions. Throughout his career, he has specialized in digital transformation, cloud migration, and applying AI to drive revenue growth and operational efficiency across complex global organizations. He now brings this expertise to Fareportal as the company continues its transformation across AI and customer operations.

Scott holds a B.S. in Computer Science with an emphasis in Business Administration from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Richard Pasquier

General Counsel

Rick Pasquier is our Acting General Counsel.

Rick is a partner at the law firm, Practus LLP. Over many years as a general counsel and corporate lawyer, Rick has helped his clients exceed their goals navigating complex issues including business transactions, commercial contracts, litigation, compliance, regulatory investigations, human resources, and labor matters.

Rick’s practice has included managing governmental affairs and human resources for clients and his pro-bono leadership in non-profit organizations speaks to his commitment to make the world a better place. He is an adjunct professor at Temple University and has taught at Penn’s Wharton School. He recently completed a PhD in Political Science (August 2022) writing his dissertation on the global politics of chemical safety. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School and the University of Delaware.

Jeremy Wee

Head of People & Culture

Jeremy is passionate about building and transforming HR organizations and has worked with private and public companies across industries, including travel tech & consumer, from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Prior to joining Fareportal, Jeremy was the Chief People Officer at NewtonX, a B2B Market Research Technology company, and was a former management consultant. He started his career in technology consulting with Siemens Singapore, and KPMG Asia Pacific, but was attracted to the challenges of organizational & people topics, and post-MBA continued his career in consulting at PwC and McKinsey & Company.

Jeremy holds an MBA from NYU Stern and a Master of Biomedical Engineering and Bachelor of Computer Engineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia.