The bittersweet journey of Ixigo

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Editor's note: Aloke Bajpai, co-founder and CEO of Ixigo, a 15-year-old startup with 300-odd people, and I get down to business almost immediately.  “I have been following what you do for the longest time.” This is me. It is a lazy Saturday morning in late June and word on the street is that Ixigo is headed for a public market listing. This is after living through 18 months of absolute horror, the worst crisis that the travel industry has ever seen. I never thought I’d see Ixigo survive, leave alone list.  “I always thought that for Ixigo certain death is around the corner,” I continue. “It might come across as a very sceptical view but that’s how I sort of understood your company. My long-standing hypothesis has been that some event, maybe external, like COVID-19, or from within the company, say a liquidity crunch, might push the company over. Clearly that has not happened. You have survived and you are here and you’ve lived through everything.” Zoom calls are a terrible substitute for in-person conversations as it is next to impossible to …