Travel Buddy [A New travel Networking Startup growing exponentially in 2023]

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B2B, B2C, Deep tech, hospitality, Internet, services, Social Tech, Startups, startups in india, Travel Apr 26, 2023 0

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Travel Buddy is a Travel Networking Platform 

What is Travel Buddy?

Founded by Saurav Chakraborty, Paromita Bir, and Vijay Saini in 2020, Travel Buddy is a social travel network and D2C marketplace. In the conventional space of horizontal social networks like Facebook and Instagram, Travel Buddy is vertically trying to build a social networking platform exclusively for travelers, similar to how LinkedIn works.

Travel Buddy is trying to capture the five stages of travel: The thought, The planning, The booking, The exploring, and The sharing, in that order.

The vision of Travel Buddy is “connecting travelers with the locals and the locals with the travelers”

The mission is “to put every city, in every state to put on the travel map of the country”

Startup Travel Buddy
Website beatravelbuddy.com
Founded 2020
Headquarters Gurugram, India
Products Travel Networking
Revenue Model P2P,B2B2C, subscription

How did Travel Buddy start in 2020?

The seed of Travel Buddy was sown when one of the founder’s father had to travel to Delhi and he realized that he need local expertise in his planning since he did not know anybody there, This made him realize the need for a travel social network to connect travelers with the locals

Here is a quick overview of Travel buddy

travel buddy overview

Exclusive Features

Travel Feed: It shows the travel journeys of others. One can post your own stories. One can ask about destinations and fellow travelers for future travel plans.

Location-based: One can view travelers based on their location

Safety: Travelers can be rated, reviewed, and reported.

List one’s travel service: Service providers can make use of the app to list the services they can offer to travelers.

Bookmark: Posts can be bookmarked for future reference.

Growth Rate

The platform already has more than 3 million travelers in India, making the growth rate of Travel Buddy already exceptional. Being started with 3 Members of the founding Team, This Gurugram-based startup has currently a total headcount of  17+ in 2023 and growing.

Area of Operations

Headquartered in Gurgaon, the platform is catered to PAN India. But the market penetration from the Tier 1 and metro cities of Mumbai, Delhi,  Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata has been more prominent so far.

Targeted Market

Currently, it is the Indian audience that the Travel-based startup is targeting. By next year, the plan is to further expand to the USA and South East Asia, since the latter essentially is an android-heavy stratum.

Revenue Model 

Travel Buddy primarily has a subscription-based revenue model. Apart from that, advertising is another one. This b2c-focused startup has brand partnerships with other platforms and service providers useful for travelers.

travel buddy screenshot

Business Model

Travel Buddy runs on a D2C model. During the pandemic, The trio-founded startup ventured into service providing in the form of homestays, transport, etc, without charging them any commission, hence making it a part of the B2B2C business type as well.

Competition

The direct competition for Travel Buddy is Australian-based companies called Traveller and Show Around.

In India, an upcoming company called Explurger is what Travel Buddy considers could be a potential competition.

Expansion Plans

The current focus is on increasing manpower. The team is aiming to cross the headcount of 20 in the next 2-3 months. With the increased manpower, the plan is to expand the area of operation in India and then abroad.

Travel Buddy Funding

Initially, the capital was internal. The first external funding was done in 2021.

This Gurugram-based startup has raised a total of  US$ 250K  in its pre-series round from the likes of Eaglewings Ventures and raised an undisclosed amount from Mumbai Angels in its seed round.

SWOT Analysis

The strength of this b2c-focused platform lies in its community, which is niche and committed.

The weakness lies in the technology team of this Travel & Networking startup. The team needs better strength and expertise.

The opportunity is huge as whoever loves travel needs a Travel buddy, feels Paromita, and a large crowd loves to travel around the world.

Travel Buddy swot analysis

The threat, the founder feels, is a new competition and existing big players.

Honorable Mentions

This Gurugram-based startup has been mentioned on notable platforms like the mBillionth awards of South Asia, Mobile App Diary, Huffpost, and Terrain Spotter.

Travel Buddy Founders

Saurav Chakraborty is the CEO. He was previously associated with Facebook.

Vijay Saini is the CTO. He was previously associated with GenPact.

Paromita Bir handles the growth and business development aspect. She has a publishing and project management background.

More

What is a travel buddy?

Travel Buddy is a social travel network and D2C marketplace. In the conventional space of horizontal social networks.

Who is the CEO of travel buddy?

Saurav Chakraborty

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