The digital concierge service—and official luxury lifestyle partner of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team—show its members an exclusive and memorable way to experience the Grand Prix race weekend
When it comes to deeply memorable experiences, you’re hard pressed to top a Formula 1 race. Putting aside the herculean effort it takes to stage this traveling circus over the course of 24 weekends, just being present to hear the cars and see the rate of speed in person is enough to cement F1 into your brain.
However, as is the case with any large scale sporting event, there are levels to access. With F1’s popularity growing exponentially in recent years, attendance at marquee races like the United States Grand Prix in Austin and Las Vegas Grand Prix has understandably spiked. That not only means crowds at the track, but in the host cities and places of interest within them as well. Avoiding queues, traffic and delivering the most seamless and race weekend experience is where Velocity Black comes in.
The digital concierge service has been the official luxury lifestyle partner of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team for three years running and is well-suited to crafting and executing a unique F1 experience. Access to premium dining, entertainment and travel experiences around the world form the basis of Velocity Black membership—however, it’s their team of insiders that come from the worlds of hospitality, private aviation and fashion that set the service apart. This is not just another app with a fancy algorithm, there are well-heeled people behind the recommendations, services and experiences. They can curate everything from a private jet pickup, to bespoke getaways, to scoring tickets for sold-out sporting events and concerts. However, that’s only the jumping-off point.
As we experienced first hand in Austin alongside some of their members, Velocity Black knows how to up the ante. With access to AMF1’s hospitality suite, garage, key team members and drivers throughout one of motorsports biggest weekends, you’d be forgiven for thinking there’s hardly any room left to improve the itinerary. And yet that’s exactly what the Velocity Black team did. On what is one of the busiest Saturday nights of the year in Austin, BBQ institution Franklin Barbecue was open solely for Velocity Black members and a few VIP guests.
Invitations arrived through the app, a complimentary perk that transformed a night full of potential indecision into one easy “YES.” The restaurant, which typically sees lines around the block and closes the moment their meat sells out, reopened exclusively after hours with Aaron Franklin himself presiding over the evening. Brisket, ribs, turkey, each smoked to perfection and paired with Glenfiddich x Aston Martin F1 16-year single malt (which all guests also received a bottle of) made for a thoroughly Austin meets the UK experience.
As if that wasn’t enough, Grammy-winning artist and Austin native Gary Clark Jr. pulled up a stool to play a raw and deeply personal hour-plus-long set that included a few of his hits, as well as a wonderfully rambling cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing.” To be sitting in an iconic Austin BBQ joint with no more than 50 people listening to Clark Jr. play was a surreal experience, one of many that we enjoyed during the weekend.
To better understand how a company facilitates things like going for a hot lap around Circuit of The Americas with a rising talent like Jak Crawford (who was recently confirmed as AMF1’s third driver for 2026 season) or helicopter arrivals and departures on race weekend, we caught up with Velocity Black CEO Sylvain Langrand:
COOL HUNTING: Velocity Black has evolved significantly since its founding, from a luxury concierge app to a comprehensive membership experience. How has your vision for what members truly need from a digital concierge service changed as you’ve grown, and what surprised you most about member behavior and expectations along the way?
Sylvain Langrand: When Velocity Black was founded, the idea was simple: build a luxury concierge app that could deliver access and experiences to a discerning and digital-minded audience. But as we’ve grown, our vision has evolved. We discovered that members don’t just want efficiency or transactions. They want to be ushered into moments they didn’t even know were possible. What they value most are the experiences that transcend traditional luxury: the rare, the meaningful and the deeply personal. A concierge should provide more than just access. It’s about understanding what luxury means for the individual and situation and, from there, creating meaningful memories that will last long after access to a ticket, a table or a trip.
The Austin F1 Grand Prix is a great example of this. During race weekend, we were able to arrange private helicopter transfers for our members to help bypass heavy ground traffic. Additionally, we curated a full buy-out and private dinner exclusively for our members at Franklin Barbeque including an intimate live performance by Gary Clark Jr. with appearances from Aaron Franklin and Aston Martin F1 driver, Jak Crawford. It wasn’t just exclusive access—it was a moment designed with insight, relationships and a deep understanding of what feels unforgettable to create a meaningful memory. That’s ultimately how our vision has shifted: from providing luxury services to creating pathways into the kinds of experiences that define a life well lived.
CH: In an era where AI and automation are transforming service industries, how does Velocity Black strike the balance between technological efficiency and the irreplaceable human touch that members expect? Where do you see AI particularly enhancing your service, and where must the human element remain non-negotiable?
SG: Velocity Black is and has always been at the forefront of technology to create a more personalized and seamless experience for every member and every request. From a simple member request sent via text on our app, our experts are able to craft personalized and in-depth proposals that meet and exceed member expectations. No long phone calls and no friction—just seamless and simple operations.
AI plays a powerful role at Velocity Black. We are reinventing the definition of bespoke human-led luxury services in the age of AI with human experts at the center of our customer interactions and powerful AI—tools to amplify the quality of their services.
Luxury is personal and the future for us is clear: AI will continue to supercharge our capabilities, but the experiences that truly resonate—the ones that feel personal, thoughtful, and deeply considered—will be delivered by our experts.
CH: The concept of luxury seems to be shifting from pure material excess toward experiences, access and time-saving. How do you define what “luxury” means to Velocity Black’s members today, and how does that definition influence the services and partnerships you prioritize?
SG: We believe that luxury is personal with each of our members seeking a different variation of what we would define as luxury. For our members, luxury is less about more things and more about getting memorable moments, products or experiences that can resonate with them or they didn’t know where possible.
The ability to find and access these meaningful experiences without the friction that comes with planning them is the luxury we provide all our members.
CH: With endless options available at everyone’s fingertips, curation has become increasingly valuable. What’s your philosophy on curation versus choice, and how do you train your team to understand not just what’s available, but what’s genuinely exceptional and worth a member’s time?
SG: Given the endless options available to our members, whether that be travel, dining, shopping or entertainment, Velocity Black’s real value comes in our ability to curate and personalize based on our in-depth knowledge of our members. That’s why we train our team to go beyond what’s available and focus on what’s genuinely worth a member’s time: the quality, the context, the moments that really land. A great recommendation isn’t just convenient—it feels like someone truly understands what will surprise, delight and resonate with that individual member. And with upcoming tech advancements to our platform, this is only the beginning in Velocity Black’s ability to empower our experts and optimize the member experience.”
CH: Membership implies belonging to something greater than a transactional service. How do you foster a sense of community and shared identity among Velocity Black members through a digital platform, and why is that community aspect important to your business model?
SG: Membership isn’t just about service, it’s about belonging to a community of like-minded individuals. Even in a digital-first environment, we foster connection through shared experiences, exclusive events and access that creates common ground. This community aspect strengthens trust, loyalty and engagement, turning membership into an identity rather than a transactional relationship.
We have several “Core Cities” where we have the most interest and activity from our members, and continue to invest in building exclusive member events in those destinations. Whether it’s a curated table by Chef Jose Andres during F1 Las Vegas or a private masterclass with Sotheby’s experts, we see high levels of member engagement in these types of events as they provide opportunities for our members to connect and build a sense of community.
CH: Every concierge has stories of seemingly impossible requests. Can you share a memorable example that illustrates both the capabilities of your team and the trust members place in Velocity Black? What did that experience teach you about the service you’re really providing?
SG: One of the things that makes Velocity Black special is that we service members both proactively and reactively. Our members lead very busy lives and they often don’t have time to find what they want, so we surface it for them. Take visiting Paris as an example: all of our members have been to Paris, so our job is to deliver bespoke and exclusive access moments that they would not be able to get otherwise. Whether it’s organizing an after-hours visit to the Louvre, horseback riding at Versailles castle or curating a day in the life of Lenny Kravitz before attending his Paris concert, our team will deliver an unforgettable experience. Moments like these teach us that we’re not just providing service, we’re delivering the trust, world class service and memories that will last a lifetime.
CH: Operating across multiple markets presents unique challenges, especially maintaining brand consistency while delivering authentic, highly localized experiences. How do you scale a personalized service globally without losing the intimate knowledge and relationships that make concierge services valuable?
SG: Operating in multiple markets is really about balancing global consistency with local expertise. We know that the magic of our service comes from the people who live and breathe these cities every day, and we’ve invested in having the very best experts on the ground in each market. They’re the ones with the relationships, the cultural fluency and the insider knowledge that simply can’t be replicated.
Our technology helps connect all of that expertise across the organization and gives us a sharper understanding of each member’s preferences, but it’s our people who bring it to life. Their insight is what turns a request into something memorable. That’s how we scale globally without losing the intimacy, authenticity and true expertise that make a concierge service valuable.
CH: Looking ahead, how do you see the membership economy evolving, particularly in the luxury space? What trends are you watching closely, and how is Velocity Black positioning itself not just to respond to change, but to shape what premium membership experiences will look like in five years?
SG: We’re watching the membership space shift toward something much more personal and experience-led. People don’t just want a service anymore—they want to feel known, understood and be part of a community that isn’t mass-produced or easily replicated. Especially in luxury, exclusivity now means access to moments and connections you can’t get anywhere else.
At Velocity Black, we’re not just preparing for that future—we’re building it. Our focus is on creating a membership model where technology enhances personalization, our experts deliver the human magic and each experience feels truly singular and memorable. We believe luxury is personal and our Velocity Black team is re-defining what luxury services are in the age of AI to create more personal and memorable moments with every request from each of our members.
