Travel

citibuddies.com: An Online Social Platform That Connects People Enabling them to Re-Explore and Re-Discover their Favorite Cities Online and Offline Using a Different Perspective – the Local One

November 5, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

Citibuddies.com is an online social platform that connects people enabling them to re-explore and re-discover their favorite cities online and offline using a different perspective which is the local one.

We had an in-depth and insightful interview with Mr. ‘Aidan Mehmed‘; Founder and CMO of the Argentina (Buenos Aires)-based start-up “citibuddies Inc.”.

“citibuddies“ is a connection platform in cities that presents you the coolest things to do in the urban jungle, connects you to the right people and makes you a local in the global world . For locals and visitors. Virtually and in the real world.

Below is the full interview that we have conducted with Mr. ‘Mehmed’ regarding his online social platform company “citibuddies Inc.”;

1. What is it exactly that you do and what “citibuddies Inc.” is all about?

We are creating an online social platform which opens up the ‘doors’ of cities for us, an online social gateway for each city. With this online network we connect people enabling them to re-explore and re-discover their favorite cities online and offline using a different perspective – the local one. No matter where you are located you would know what is fun to do out there in the city you are in or in the one you would like to go to. Thus you not only save time and money, but also you don’t feel awkward or like a foreigner anymore wherever you go.

2. When has “citibuddies Inc.” been founded? And what stage is “citibuddies Inc.” currently at?

citibuddies Inc. officially incorporated in July 2012 in Delaware, USA. Currently we are developing our beta, refining our business and marketing strategy; not to forget we are looking for enthusiastic people to join our team. Very soon we will reveal some very interesting new content which was kept secret for months and we plan to launch the beta in November 2012.

3. What is “citibuddies Inc.”‘s business model and how does it work?

The business model includes online Ads based on your geo-location, premium access (space for promotional content for business partners) and margin-based revenue from our marketplace feature. Once we launch our Mobile Apps for smartphones and tablets, we also plan on penetrating the Mobile Ads market. We strive to deliver not only a unique experience via the online network as a service, but additionally help the user to save money and time while doing it and we help our business partners to reach audiences that they cannot reach via facebook or other social networks yet.

4. How did your team meet? And who in your team does what?

We met in Groningen, the Netherlands during my Graduate studies there and the Doctoral studies of Darja thanks to fortunate chain of events. I was at the stage when I was seeking the next big thing to work on and fight for and once I heard about the project I was totally up for it. Darja (CEO) is busy with operations, product development and our finances, whereas my focus is marketing, sales and business development. We both try to recruit people constantly and in general, we both do a bit of everything, as a small team in a start-up, you have to. Furthermore we constantly work with volunteers for which we are very grateful for.

5. What, exactly, makes you different from existing options, what will make your product and/or service stand out in the marketplace? In other words what’s unique about you and what’s new about what you make?

citibuddies provides relevant and timely information about activities/events in cities and connects you to people that might be relevant for whatever you want to do. Each activity, each event offered to you is in line with the user’s tastes and likes. You can easily use the platform to promote you initiatives and gain visibility among communities that are of your interest. Moreover, we are currently based and focused on Latin America, which offers great potential for growth in the social media and travel/leisure segments in the future.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Online Social Networks, Travel Tagged With: activity, Aidan Mehmed, citibuddies, city, event, local, marketplace, social network, Travel

Utrip.com: An Online Platform that was Created to Enhance the Overall Planning, Travel, and Sharing Experiences of the Modern Traveler

October 20, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

Utrip.com

Utrip.com helps travelers plan their dream adventures to their favorite destinations. Utrip creates the perfect trip for you by sifting through thousands of restaurants, attractions, events, and activities and crafting an itinerary that perfectly matches your personal interests and desires.

We had the pure pleasure of interviewing Mr. ‘Gilad Berenstein’; the Founder & CEO of the US (Seattle, WA)-based start-up “Utrip” about his company.

“Utrip” is an online platform that was created to enhance the overall planning, travel, and sharing experiences of the modern traveler by making all aspects of the travel experience simple, enjoyable, and extremely personal.

Below is the full interview that we have conducted with Mr. ‘Berenstein’ regarding his internet start-up company “Utrip”;

1. What is it exactly that you do and what “Utrip” is all about?

Utrip.com helps travelers plan their dream adventures to their favorite destinations.

Utrip creates the perfect trip for you by sifting through thousands of restaurants, attractions, events, and activities and crafting an itinerary that perfectly matches your personal interests and desires. We partner with local experts who provide firsthand authentic knowledge on your favorite destinations. Whatever your dream experience is, Utrip will help you live it.

Quickly, easily, and cheaply any traveler can experience their favorite team’s soccer game in Madrid on Friday, the Picasso Museum in Barcelona for free on Sunday, and still be there in time for the opening celebration Oktoberfest in Munich on Wednesday, all while flying on the cheapest days of the week.

2. When has “Utrip” been founded? And what stage is “Utrip” currently at?

The initial idea for Utrip came about in October 2010 and the team started working 6 months later. Since day one, we have continuously worked on the development and improvement of our product. Public beta officially launched 16 months later on July 9, 2012. Currently, we have a collaborative team of 10 and are located in Seattle, WA.

3. What is “Utrip”‘s business model and how does it work?

We offer a free personalized trip-planning service to all Utrip users.

We have a “20/20 rule”: Utrip lets travelers collapse 20 hours of confusing research into 20 minutes of enjoyable trip planning leading to the perfectly customized trip every time. Based on your desired travel destinations, duration in each city, personal preferences, and interests, Utrip’s proprietary optimization algorithm takes a multitude of factors into account to craft your ideal itinerary.

Once a trip is planned and booked, Utrip receives commissions from the back end working with partners like Expedia, hostelbookers, and more. The service is completely free for our customers and is available at www.utrip.com. Although not available at launch, Facebook integration and blogging features will soon allow Utrip users to instantly share their itinerary, pictures, and stories from their adventures with friends and family.

4. How did your team meet? And who in your team does what?

Gilad Berenstein (founder & CEO) and Edan Shahar (co-founder & COO) share a great passion for travel and technology, and have been good friends since college.

Since the founding of Utrip, the company has brought on 8 more full time members, including 4 programmers, 4 knowledge team members.

Please visit https://utrip.com/about/team to read detailed bios of our team members.

Utrip has a few key differentiators that make our product stand out from the rest. Today, countless travel blogs and websites provide trip planning tips and destination suggestions. However, no one has solved the most difficult and important problem of all, how to take these ideas and tips and turn them into a complete and personal itinerary.

We don’t believe there is such a thing as a one-trip-fits-all. Through a few simple steps, we pinpoint the traveler’s preferences and interests, such as sports (Spanish soccer), art (Baroque), history, culture (running with the bulls), museum, nature (bird watching), etc. Combined with authentic local advice, geographic optimization and other important factors, we then create a perfectly personalized trip for you. Utrip was designed with travelers in mind to build the most useful travel tool around.

YELLaround.com: An Online Local Message Broadcasting Platform that Travels with you Everywhere you Go and Connects you with Everyone in your Area

September 24, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

YELLaround.com

YELLaround is the world’s first local message broadcasting platform. It is a location-based newsfeed of all messages (Yells) that are posted within your location radius.

We had the pleasure of interviewing the very ambitious and goal-driven Mr. ‘Kyle Case‘; Co-Founder and CEO of the US (Minneapolis, Minnesota)-based start-up “YELLaround” about his Company.

“YELLaround” is an online local message broadcasting platform that travels with you everywhere you go and connects you with everyone in your area.

Below is the full interview that we have conducted with Mr. ‘Case’ regarding his start-up company ”YELLaround”;

1. What is it exactly that you do and what “YELLaround” is all about?

YELLaround is the world’s first local message broadcasting platform.

It is a location-based newsfeed of all messages (Yells) that are posted within your location radius.

YELLaround gives individuals, organizations, and businesses the ability to reach every YELLaround user that is near them.

With YELLaround you don’t need to add friends or try to attract followers, you immediately are connected with anyone within a common distance radius.

2. When has “YELLaround” been founded? And what stage is “YELLaround” currently at?

Our startup was founded September 2011. Our startup is preparing for a private beta release focused on the University of Minnesota campus and the Twin Cities in September 2012.

We will expand YELLaround to more cities based on the number of signups we receive on www.yellaround.com.

Once a city has reached the signup threshold we’ve established, then we will release YELLaround in that city, so sign up today!

3. What is “YELLaround”’s business model and how does it work?

Our company is focused on growing our user base and creating a great experience for our users.

We believe too many startups are focused on making money instead of creating products that users love.

Revenue is a result of making great products.

We believe there is an opportunity for YELLaround to eventually move to a freemium model that would allow advanced features for business and power users that are interested in high performing Yells.

4. How did your team meet? And who in your team does what?

Trong and I met when we worked together at a previous job.

We started YELLaround as a hobby project and began to spend more and more time on it until it became a reality.

I am responsible for user experience, testing, and business tasks within YELLaround.

Trong is responsible for development and technology decision making.

YELLaround is unique because its a newsfeed that is follows you everywhere you go.

When you travel to a new city, your Twitter followers and Facebook friends don’t come with you.

With YELLaround, you could be traveling in a completely new city and feel like you know exactly what is happening and what is on the minds of everyone there.

You don’t have to check in to every restaurant or bar.

You just pull up your newsfeed or mapview and see what places are most talked about on YELLaround.

RoadTrippers.com: A Simple and Intuitive Road Trip Planner Platform that Helps you Discover, Plan and Book the Best Places and Experiences Along your Way Curated by Local Experts and Travel Writers

September 18, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

RoadTrippers.com

RoadTrippers.com wants to make sure every time you start up the car, you know of all the quirky, offbeat, uncommon, and previously unknown places there are to stop and see.

Mr. ‘Brandon Hite’; from the Marketing & Business Development department of the US (Cincinnati)-based start-up “RoadTrippers”; explained to us in more details who is behind their company and what his start-up is all about.

According to Mr. ‘Hite’; The abandoned theme parks, the unexplainable roadside art, the monstrous, never-before-seen hamburgers made of locally-raised beef – these are what make road trips worth packing and filling up the tank for.

Roadtrippers.com, a Cincinnati-based start-up, wants to make sure every time you start up the car, you know of all the quirky, offbeat, uncommon, and previously unknown places there are to stop and see. From the family-owned restaurants with generous portions to the Museum of Plumbing Fixtures – Roadtrippers will let you discover your America.

At its core, Roadtrippers’ beginnings are similar to many start-ups: realize a problem, find no satisfying solution, create satisfying solution.

When co-founders James Fisher and Tatiana Parent traveled the back roads and bi-ways of America, they discovered there was no single, useful resource to find what wasn’t advertised with giant 7-story signs and frequent radio commercials. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Travel, Web Based Applications, Websites Tagged With: american, Brandon Hite, discovery, independent, local, road trip, roadtrippers, Travel

Mapov.com: A Platform that Displays the Hotel Details, Photos and TripAdvisor Reviews for Over 220,000 Hotels, All on Top of a Map

August 24, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

Mapov.com

Mapov.com is a new way to search for hotels using a map.

Today we had an insightful interview with Mr. ‘Richard Jackson‘; Founder of the UK (Cornwall)-based start-up “Mapov.com”.

Mapov.com is a new way to search for hotels using a map.

Below is the full interview that we have conducted with Mr. ‘Jackson’ regarding his Company ”Mapov.com”;

1. What is it exactly that you do and what “Mapov.com” is all about?

Mapov.com is a new way to search for hotels using a map.

We display the hotel details, photos and TripAdvisor reviews for over 220,000 hotels, all on top of a map.

Alongside this we display the very best prices from some of the leading global hotel providers, in a way that is visually clean and crisp.

This approach makes it very easy for people to find hotels in the place they want, and importantly, at a price they can afford.

2. When has “Mapov.com” been founded? And what stage is “Mapov.com” currently at?

Richard Jackson founded Mapov.com in May 2011 and has since been working intensively with a small team of developers reimagining what we believe to be the future of hotel search engines.

In May 2012 the site went live, and has since been drawing wide and positive interest.

We are currently preparing to launch a tablet version.

Triposo.com: Makes Travel Guides that Know Who you are and Where you are and Use that Information to Come Up with Fresh and Inspiring Ideas on What to do while you Travel

August 16, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

Triposo.com

Triposo makes smart travel guides for mobile devices. Travel guides that know who you are and where you are and use that information to come up with fresh and inspiring ideas on what to do while you travel.

We had an enjoyable and intuitive interview with the fantastic entrepreneur Mr. ‘Richard Osinga‘; CEO of the Germany (Berlin)-based start-up “Triposo” regarding his company.

“Triposo” makes travel guides using algorithms. They crawl data from the web, apply some clever algorithms and fully automatically generate travel guides of high quality that cover the entire world.

Below is the full interview that we have conducted with Mr. ‘Osinga’ regarding his start-up company ”Triposo”;

1. What is it exactly that you do and what “Triposo” is all about?

We make smart travel guides for mobile devices. Travel guides that know who you are and where you are and use that information to come up with fresh and inspiring ideas on what to do while you travel.

Of course our guides also contain detailed descriptions of everything to see and do, places to eat and drink and offline maps.

Our apps are available for Android and iOS work offline and are 100% free to use.

2. When has “Triposo” been founded? And what stage is “Triposo” currently at?

We started in May 2011 and raised a seed round from a number of investors.

With that money we started developing the product described above.

After one year we had 1.5 million downloads of our apps and a great plan to make them even better.

In June we closed a Series A round. So currently, we are busy growing our team.

[Read more...]