STARTUP STAGE: Welcome uses AI to make trip planning more spontaneous and personalized

Describe both the business and technology aspects of your startup.

Welcome is an artificial intelligence-powered platform helping travelers effortlessly discover new and interesting places.

We use machine learning to take the work out of planning, allowing for users to be more spontaneous once at their destination with flexible, instantly generated itineraries that shift depending on likes/dislikes, time of day, weather and more.

Welcome’s suggestions become smarter as users add to their wish lists and follow specific friends, travel writers and brands.

What inspired you to create this company?

I spent a year living out of a carry-on suitcase. It was an amazing experience, and I am very grateful I had the freedom to do that. I often found myself in a hotel room or cafe researching where to go and planning out our days only to have everything change once we arrived.

We realized that we were losing valuable travel time by looking activities and events up and copying them into spreadsheets or writing down notes on pieces of paper.

As I looked for solutions, I found out we weren’t alone: According to Google, 85% of leisure travelers decide on activities only after having arrived at their destination.

Give us your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the company.

• Strengths: Great branding; the app uses unique real-time AI; the product solves a real problem with minimal effort on the user’s part
• Weaknesses: Lack of brand recognition, which will change over time as more users join and invite their friends
• Opportunities: Support travel to more cities; increase data points to inform AI; partner with hotels/restaurants/destinations recommended in the app
• Threats: Persuading travelers to switch from tools that are familiar to something new but infinitely more convenient

What are the travel pain points you are trying to alleviate from both the customer and the industry perspective?

Fundamentally, we are trying to solve the problem of planning. Travel currently requires a lot of planning, but many younger travelers prefer to show up and discover a city rather than map out every step beforehand.

Itinerary apps on the market now are just as much work as planning your trip manually, or they provide rigid unrealistic itineraries. The majority of travelers don’t want to hire a travel agent, even if it’s an app-based agent like Journy or Noken.

Welcome gives personalized recommendations in real time to save travelers the hassles that accompany these competitors.

So you've got the product, now how will you get lots of customers?

Welcome plugs into some unique viral engagement loops - specifically the ability to ask friends for recommendations and the ability to share your lists of tips. Welcome can also import existing lists of recommendations from websites, emails, docs, etc. It is super easy to get onboarded with the platform.

Tell us what process you've gone through to establish a genuine need for your company and the size of the addressable market.

We spent a year traveling the world experiencing first-hand the pain point of showing up somewhere new - especially city travel. We have spent months testing and iterating on our product.

How and when will you make money?

Welcome is a free app, and we pride ourselves on also being ad free. The results we recommend are personalized to you and not influenced by advertisements.

As we continue to aggregate millions of users looking for something to do right now, we look forward to pursuing opportunities to partner with businesses in a variety of ways.

We are currently focusing on building our user base and database of recommendations, and will share monetization plans in the future.

What are the backgrounds and previous achievements of the founding team, and why do you have what it takes to succeed with this business?

Matthew Rosenberg, the co-founder and CEO of Welcome, is a serial entrepreneur and product designer. From group messaging to video storytelling, he’s built things that have made our world a more collaborative place. Before Welcome he co-founded Cameo, named one of the Best Apps of 2013 by Apple, which he subsequently sold to Vimeo in 2014.

Peter Gerard, the co-founder and head of growth and operations at Welcome, has worked in film, television and web technology for more than 15 years. He previously founded Accidental Media, where he produced and directed documentaries, and Distrify, pioneering “direct-to-fan” digital film sales. He worked at Vimeo as its vice president and general manager of entertainment, where he managed the video marketplace and launched original movies and shows like High Maintenance and the Oscar-nominated Pear Cider and Cigarettes.

Peter and I met at Vimeo and quickly bonded over our common background as entrepreneurs and hackers. When my travel experiences inspired me to start playing around with the initial idea for Welcome, I reached out to Peter who quickly joined. Our history of working hard together at Vimeo, our passion for Welcome and our friendship outside of work are the factors that drive what we do and will hopefully help us see success.

What's been the most difficult part of founding the business so far?

We have had some real success in the past, but when you start a new business you are always starting from the same place: the beginning. Building from the ground up is a challenge, but also an adventure.

Generally, travel startups face a fairly tough time making an impact - so why are you going to be one of lucky ones?

Does luck have something to do with it? Maybe. I think it is more about having a clear vision, a product two steps ahead of anything else out there, a strong brand and a great team. Our last company was in the video space, and before that group texting. We only know tough markets.

There are a few startups trying to provide better travel recommendations and some trying to make it easier to plan an itinerary. Some apps let you access existing static itineraries or they have concierges that you can pay to build you a personal itinerary based on a template (but they don’t update if you change your plan).

We haven’t seen any of these startups trying to tackle the task of a personalized AI-powered itinerary, nor a travel tool that adapts to the user’s behavior on the ground. Welcome will stand out from the crowd in the travel startup space because we tirelessly work to solve any barrier to entry caused by inconvenience for users. Welcome is too easy not to use.

It is also FUN to use, whereas so many other travel platforms are boring.