This is a regular roundup of some of the latest mobile application startup launches in travel covering everything from trip inspiration and planning to virtual assistants.
Cool Cousin
What is it?
In the age of information overload, Cool Cousin wants to help travellers find their way around cities with the help of locals. The service aims to provide curated information about destinations from the people who live there.
The startup was founded last year and already claims to have a community of hundreds of "cousins". The service is available as a newly launched web app as well as iOS app and a mobile web app.
Who’s behind it?
Itay Nagler - Co-founder & CEO
Nadav Saadia - Co-founder & CMO
Shachar Cotano - Co-founder & CPO
Gil Azrielant - Co-founder & CTO
Itamar Weizman - Co-founder & COO
The founders are not from the travel industry, but came together to launch a political campaign in Israel.
Is there a problem it’s trying to solve?
"We spend so much of our time fantasizing about our next vacation, yet sorting through all the information available online, cross checking references and trying to avoid biased reviews, makes planning a trip a time consuming and often frustrating mission. Cool Cousin is the antidote to this frustration. "
Anything else? (funding, accelerators etc)
Cool Cousin just closed a seed round of $2M lead by Elevator Fund to be used to scale up the platform.
ChillTravel
What is it?
ChillTravel wants to improve the passenger experience by delivering information and services to them via mobile device. The startup is offering the ChillWrap, a smart skin for luggage that has been checked in that aims to protect against damage and theft. The wrap enables passengers to track luggage using SITA WorldTracer and receive notifications of when it's on the baggage belt.
The startup's second product is the ChillTracker, a tracking device aimed at items such as wallets, tablets, computers, phones, passports, glasses and anything else potentially lost at the airport or left on a plane. Users can receive alerts via the app once a lost item has been received at a lost and found office. It will also inform users of the last known location.
Who’s behind it?
Jeronimo, co-founder and CEO, in charge of business development, commercial, finance and sales. Costa has a background in finance and accounting, and a postgraduate degree on investments.
Gaston, co-founder is in charge of all product development, especially with design and manufacturing process as he is an industrial designer.
Luis, co-founder and in charge of operations and user experience. Background in UI and UX design for mobile projects.
Jose, is the tech guy is an experienced developer with an IT background.
Andres, co-founder and specialist in digital marketing and graphic design.
Is there a problem it’s trying to solve?
According to SITA, 1.5 million bags are “lost” or “stolen”, 3.5 million bags are “damaged” or “pilfered” and 16.6 million bags are “delayed” each year. As passengers doesn't want to become another statistic, they protect their stuff with plastic wrapping which costs $15-$20; other prefer to buy smart bags instead. ChillTravel proposes to make your dumb luggage smarter by using a smart skin at an affordable price for everyone.
"Almost 1% of passengers forgets stuff either on the plane or at security checkpoints in the airport. What they tend to lose is clothes, computers, tablets, watches, jewellery and other; and only 10% of them get their stuff back. This means than more than 32 million passengers don't retrieve their lost objects back!
"What happens to these objects is that airlines auction after one month, becoming impossible for the owner to get it back. It is important to remark that it is not the airline’s fault as it is impossible to identify the owner of the object, thus, the object never gets back to its owner.
"That is why the ChillTracker will play a key role, as it will solve this huge problem with an automatic and quick process, with no cost to the industry."
Anything else? funding/accelerators etc
The startup has so far been funded by friends, family and angel investors as well as a grant from the Uruguayan Agency of Innovation and Investigation.
ChillTravel plans to launch on Kickstarter in October.
YouMap
What is it?
YouMap is a visual mapping tool which aims to help users discover and share stuff going on around them.
Users can tap into a local community to see what’s happening nearby that is relevant to their interests. YouMapy aims to convey the "emotion, context and location" of what's going on using as few words as possible.
Who’s behind it?
Stephen Constantine is the founder of YouMap. He sits on the board of Eagle Coffee, his family business, which has been running since 1921. He’s also the founder of Story Mode, an innovative VR company.
Is there a problem it's trying to solve?
"Social media has become a popularity contest. Because of the way that conventional social media works – ‘likes’, retweets, followers etc – popular opinions always rise to the top. And flat social media feeds or hashtags don’t authentically reflect personal experience in a universal language.
YouMap is based on the truth that proximity enables observation, and that current social media platforms are unable to accurately reflect core aspects of human communication.
YouMap gives you real-time, emotionally-aware, information about places you’re interested in. It unites you, the ‘seeker’ with those who are in that location right now: making them the most valuable person in your network as they have specific contextual knowledge."
Anything else?
Constantine has invested $800,000 of his own capital and is exploring funding opportunities for the next level.
Main photo by Zach Meaney on Unsplash