We are a diverse team of travel technologists, digital marketers and fintech experts, united in our passion to make travel more accessible, affordable, and rewarding.
As the only Buy Now, Pay Later solution focused exclusively on travel, Uplift helps consumers take control of their budget and experience the travel they deserve. Through a personalized and targeted offer engine, we match the right payment plan to the right customer, helping travel brands drive higher conversion and increase customer lifetime value.
Uplift’s flexible payment solutions are offered by top travel brands throughout the United States and Canada.
Brian drives business and product strategy, forges and manages relationships with key partners and investors, and sets the company’s cultural tone. Prior to co-founding Uplift, Brian was a co-founder, CEO and Director of SideStep, which invented travel meta-search in 1999. SideStep was acquired by Kayak in 2007, which in turn was acquired by Priceline for $1.8B in 2013. Brian has been a board member and advisor of numerous startups and holds a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering from MIT.
Wayne oversees all aspects of Uplift’s customer support and operations. Before joining Uplift, he managed core engineering teams at TiVo, SideStep and Netscape. In his early career, Wayne focused on object and relational database development at IBM and Informix. Wayne holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin.
Tom joined Uplift from Miraval Group, where he served as SVP and CMO, ultimately successfully selling the brand and resorts to Hyatt Hotels. Prior to Uplift, Tom held executive positions across the airline, hotel, and online intermediary industries, including at Denihan Hospitality, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Hotwire.com. Tom was also the co-founder and managing partner of Hudson Crossing, LLC. Tom sits on the board of directors or advisory boards of several companies, including Adara Media, Duetto Research, Hudson Crossing, and Rocketmiles (acquired by Priceline). He holds a BS in Logistics and Marketing from the University of Missouri.
Betsabe drives the daily operations and strategic direction of Uplift’s Financial infrastructure, which includes Accounting, Treasury, Investor Facility Operations, and Strategic Finance. She has over 15 years of experience ranging from large financial institutions, fintech companies to a blockchain startup. Prior to joining Uplift, she held various senior positions at renowned and leading-edge companies including Kueski (Mexico’s largest fintech startup), Lending Club, and Citigroup, at Citi Community Development and Financial Inclusion. Betsabe also served on the advisory board of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, is a fellow for the British America Project, and is a member of Hipower, a network of executive women leaders laser-focused on accelerating one another’s success. She holds a BS in Accounting from Tech de Monterrey Mexico, an MS in Finance and an MBA in Corporate Finance from Golden Gate University.
Stu is responsible for technical direction and architecture at Uplift. He has over 30 years of experience in technology as an engineer, co-founder and advisor. Prior to co-founding Uplift, Stu co-founded SideStep, where he was the CTO. Stu has also served as an advisor for multiple start-ups. He holds a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Denise is responsible for spear-heading Uplift's expansion into the Canadian market. She is one of Canada's leading travel executives with a proven track record in sales development, growth, and profitability. Prior to joining Uplift, Denise held a number of senior level positions within the Transat organization including Director of Marketing, General Manager and Vice President Commercial. She is a well-known contributor to the industry and has served as a board member for the Travel Industry Council of Ontario and the Canadian Association of Tour Operators. Denise holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Western Ontario.
Rob manages the legal and compliance functions for Uplift, ensuring we meet our regulatory, contractual and legal obligations to customers and partners in the US and Canada. Prior to joining Uplift, Rob held a number of executive roles at leading fintech companies including General Counsel at Fundbox and General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer at Plastiq. Earlier in his career he was a lawyer for Paypal and Ebay. Rob holds an A.B. from Harvard College in Social Studies, and a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School.
Srinidhi is responsible for data science, analytics and data architecture at Uplift as the Chief Data Officer. Prior to this role, he worked as Principal and Senior Data Scientist at Uplift where he was responsible for foundational models for underwriting, payments and routing optimization along with data acquisition cost analysis. Sri obtained a PhD in condensed matter physics from the University of Illinois in 2018 and a BTech and MTech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 2011.
Kelly is responsible for brand strategy, communications, and consumer growth. Prior to joining Uplift, Kelly held various marketing leadership roles for enterprise B2B and B2C companies. Most recently, she was the Senior Director of Resort Marketing for the Western Region of Vail Resorts. Kelly holds a M.A. in Mass Communication and Media Studies from San Diego State University.
Ben has P&L responsibility for Uplift’s installment business, which includes leading financial products, credit and fraud risk management, servicing, payments, and capital markets strategy. Prior to Uplift, Ben led capital markets, business development, and financial operations for Ufora, a Big Compute data science company funded by Two Sigma operating in the financial sector. Ben holds a BA and MBA from Yale University.
Amy is responsible for Uplift’s customer service team, a team that is committed to supporting Uplift's borrowers, travel agents and travel partners. Prior to joining Uplift, Amy was the director of customer operations at one of northern Nevada’s largest healthcare organizations. She is a well known innovator in the sector of customer service, and is also known for her collaboration with leading customer service platforms. Amy holds a MA in communication studies from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Darren is responsible for product at Uplift. Prior to joining Uplift, he worked for a few different startups, as a Director of Product Management at Symantec, and as a consultant in McKinsey & Company’s tech practice. Darren holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Kevin Krone is an experienced senior executive, board of director, and advisor to global companies. Currently, he is an advisor to Southwest Airlines on advertising, marketing, distribution, social, and digital strategies. Prior to his current role, Kevin was the Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Southwest Airlines Co. His areas of responsibility included all brand and category advertising and communications, social business strategy, customer insights, brand development, digital and mobile strategy and execution, online marketing, product management, innovation, corporate and government sales, distribution strategy, business performance, multi-cultural marketing, Rapid Rewards loyalty and frequent-flyer program, and all marketing operations. Kevin’s tenure as an experienced marketing expert is based on over 24 years of building, growing, and deepening one of the world’s most respected brands. His leadership and professional experience spans beyond airline travel into other categories and industries. Prior to his role as Chief Marketing Officer, Kevin held various positions in sales and Marketing at Southwest Airlines including Vice President Interactive Marketing and Vice President Marketing, Sales and Distribution.
Alexander Rosen is a Managing Director with Ridge Ventures (fka IDG Ventures USA). He has been an investor and “consigliere” to early-stage technology entrepreneurs for over 20 years. Today, he focuses on investments in cloud infrastructure, SaaS applications, ad tech, and consumer marketplaces. Alex currently serves as board director at
Deepak is a rogue scientist turned venture capitalist focusing on investments in Data, Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and other frontier technologies at Draper Nexus. In addition to serving on the board at Uplift, he serves as a board advisor to Sight Machine (Industrial IoT), Haven(Supply Chain Management) and Payjoy (Financial Services) and co-led the investments in Nauto (A.I. for Transportation) and Cyphy (Enterprise Drone Solutions).
With over 30 years of industry experience, Jeff is a seasoned senior executive who built and ran a variety of investment, banking, and finance businesses. Currently he manages Apple’s $200B+ investment portfolio as the Head of and Chief Investment Officer of Braeburn Capital, an Apple Inc. company. Before joining Braeburn, he built and managed multinational investment platforms at eBay and PayPal. As Treasurer of KKR Financial, he was a key part of an executive team that created and took public a start up specialty finance company as well as raised and managed KKR Strategic Opportunities hedge funds. Prior to these initiatives, he served as SVP & Chief Risk Officer for Wholesale Banking Group and Corporate Treasury at Wells Fargo & Company where he designed and managed these functions. He began his career at the Office of the Comptroller and served as a Commissioned National Bank Examiner.
