IIT Roorkee Alumni’s Travel-Tech Startup ties with Incredible India campaign to offer Virtual Reality Experiences

The partnership is in line with Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi’s vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat

A travel-Tech startup established by alumni of IIT Roorkee, has partnered with Union Ministry of Tourism’s Incredible India campaign, to offer interactive virtual reality experiences of touristic destinations to the users. 

OutsiteVR was founded in 2016 by Amit Singh and Mayur Karodia, from the Department of Architecture and Planning (2010-15), IIT Roorkee. OutsiteVR is innovating reality with Immersive Technology in the Travel & Hospitality Industry. It is enabling travel enthusiasts to experience travel destinations and unexplored places from their comfort and make informed travel plans. 

The partnership is in line with Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of #AatmaNirbharBharat and supports world-class products manufactured in India.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, to offer personalized and immersive travel experiences which help users to travel our Incredible India from the comfort of their homes. I would like to thank our mentor & alumnus Mr. Pramod Saxena, Chairman of Oxigen Services and Aarambh Ventures for constant support & helping us to accomplish this mission. Also, I am thankful to our faculty (especially Prof. P. S. Chani & Prof. Avlokita Agarwal from Architecture & Planning Deptt.) at IIT Roorkee. The partnership underscores our commitment to support the Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi’s vision of #AatmaNirbharBharat. Virtual Reality is an enabler to boost India’s tourism potential and help regain the confidence of users once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides” said Mr. Amit Singh, IIT Roorkee alumnus and Co-Founder & CEO, OutsiteVR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRpkAXbfPb0

“Travelling in virtual reality is the #NewNormal and we are building a technology that makes VR accessible to the masses. In this global crisis, we are aiming to help people travel safe & make better travel decisions” said Mr. Mayur Karodia, IIT Roorkee alumnus and Co-Founder & Head of Products, OutsiteVR

“The innovative & immersive solutions offered by OutsiteVR will enable us to showcase India’s cultural diversity and heritage on a global tourism map. OutsiteVR’s one-of-a-kind solution satiates the users’ wanderlust amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. This partnership will help travel enthusiasts to experience Incredible India even from any corner of the world & facilitate informed travel plans by the users” said Mr. Venkatesan Dhattareyan, Regional Director (West and Central Region), Ministry of Tourism

“We are delighted with the success of Amit and Mayur. Their pathbreaking professional journey will encourage more students to discover their passion and charter their unique entrepreneurial courses," said Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee

OutsiteVR has also been conferred the prestigious "National Tourism Award-2019" by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for its contribution to encouraging international tourism through the innovative solution. It has earlier won MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) Innovation & Entrepreneurship Bootcamp in February 2018. The MIT innovation program is one of the best business programs for the world's leading entrepreneurs. It has also been featured amongst India's TOP-24 innovative startups on CNBC & CNN TV in 2017. Moreover, it has won the first prize at IIM Ahmedabad's Masterplan'18 (National level business plan competition) as well as '1 Cr Challenge' by Matrix Partners, India. Both the founding members are distinguished TEDx Speakers.

Mr. Amit Singh is actively supporting the aspiring entrepreneurs at IIT Roorkee and has invested in RecogsquarePvt. Ltd (Invoid), one of the startups incubated at TIDES, IIT Roorkee. The TIDES Business Incubator plays a catalytic role in encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation at IIT Roorkee. 

Gurgaon-based Travel tech startup Airblack Raises $1.5 Mn from SAIF Partners

Gurgaon-based Airblack, an end-to-end travel ecosystem for the new-age independent millennial travelers, which is yet to be launched, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from SAIF Partners, a Hong Kong-based Asia-focussed venture and growth capital fund.

The startup will utilise the seed capital for launching its product, ramping up its traveler community and hiring of a core team.

Founded this year, by Pulkit Pujara (IIT Delhi) and Videt Jaiswal (NSIT), Airblack is essentially a social-travel commerce startup that is connecting users with verified network of power travelers and travel influencers on a personal chat for exchanging recommendations around their travel plans.

Airblack, which claims to have helped more than 1000 travellers with their travel plans, leverages WhatsApp and Instagram ecosystem to connect travelers with verified network of power travelers and travel influencers.

Notably, both Pulkit and Videt are former executives at SAIF Partners. Pulkit was also AVP of Operations at online grocer Grofers. Videt has earlier worked at Boston Consulting Group and co-founded a content startup, which he exited eventually

Over one-third of US $600 billion that is spent on international travel in Asia is spent by millennials. Over two-thirds of travelers in this generation plan and book independently and Airblack is leveraging on this generational shift in the consumer travel space in Asia.

"Lot of content on platforms such as Instagram and travel blogs has made travellers more confident to travel but at the same time, it has also created a problem of information overload, that leads to anxiety and confusion. We saw there is a strong social need in travellers here to talk to other travellers before taking purchase decisions, and an aversion to talk to travel agents because they are not relatable to this audience. We are focused on creating a strong trust layer in this category,” says Videt, co-founder, Airblack.

Mayank Khanduja, Principal, SAIF Partners, said in a statement, "Over $600 billion is spent on international travel in Asia, and we see India's international travel market at an inflection point already. We strongly believe that a large wave of the new consumer demand in travel will be led by people who like to have independence in planning their trips. With increasing disposable income, spend on international travel will go up. And these users will look for social validation online before deciding on a high involvement purchase like travel. We were impressed by the team's unique insights and community-driven approach to cater to this traveler."

SAIF Partners, which manages over $4 billion in assets across India & China, has earlier invested Rs 60 crore in High Street Essentials (HSE), which owns women-centric fashion brands - FabAlley and Indya, in December last year.

SAIF is also known for backing Paytm, MakeMyTrip, Meesho, ShareChat, Swiggy and Urbanclap at an early-stage. Besides MakeyMyTrip, SAIF has invested in other travel startups such as Treebo and Travel Triangle.

Travel Tech Startup Guiddoo Raises Funding from SOSV, Artesian

Guiddoo, a Travel Technology Startup for in-destination experiences has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from SOSV - a  leading global venture capital firm based in New Jersey and Artesian China fund to build its products and offerings for the China market. Guiddoo currently offers its services across 15  international destinations and works with over 4000+ Travel Agents in India and also has institutional partners including Cleartrip & Yatra for their activities. 

The fresh funding comes within three months after the startup had raised $8,00,000 in December. In 2017, Guiddoo raised $300,000 (Rs 1.9 crore) and a second round of funding in December 2018 of $ 800,000 (Rs 6 crore) ) in a pre-Series A round from global investors.

According
to a recent report by McKinsey, China has pipped US to become the
largest outbound market in the world and will continue to consolidate
its leadership position with 160Mn outbound travelers by 2020. The funds
will be utilized to expand Guiddoo’s footprint in China and to
strengthen its on ground operations and product development. Guiddoo
also plans to add new destinations in Middle East and Africa into its
portfolio to a take a distinguishing space in the Chinese Market. As an
aggregator, the firm will also focus on adding independent Chinese
travel Service Providers into the loop.

Vineet Budki, Co-Founder & CEO at Guiddoo
said, “With rapid digitization and subsequent rise of an experiential
economy, there has been a fundamental shift in the consumer behavior
with them seeking novel experiences - such as travelling solo and to
unknown destinations, as part of their travel. This has fueled the
growth of in-destination segment and we see a huge potential in the same
going forward.

“China
is a potential market for us, and this investment will give us the
wings to fly higher. We are  delighted to have secured  funding  as well
as a strong partner in China this time around that will help us expand
our reach, acquire the right talent and augment our portfolio in the
China market. We are motivated more than ever to build a robust product
and extend the best services possible to our consumers,” he added.

“We
are excited to partner with Guiddoo in their endeavor to bring world
class search experiences to travel enthusiasts, having a digital
presence here in China.  With requisite infrastructure and support, the
travel sector is well-poised for growth and with Guiddoo’s expertise in
the ‘In-destination’ segment, we are confident of successfully reaping
the opportunity. We have full faith in the capabilities of the team and
look forward to achieving new milestones with them,” said William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV.

Oscar (MD, Chinaccelerator) said,
“Guiddoo  brings the best-in-class, digital, in-destination experiences
for  the independent Chinese travelers, which we believe is a growth
segment as Group Tours are so Old School. Having deen the strong growth
in the Travel Segment especially seeing the growth of CTrip, Qunar and
Mafengo, we see a huge growth potential in the Outbound Chinese Travel
Market and we believe that Guiddoo has the right product, team and
expertise to build a strong base here.”

Incepted
in 2013, the startup has been actively helping travelers to provide
seamless services so that they can enhance and enjoy their international
leisure trips. Guiddoo offers an array of In-Destination services like
Tours and Activities, Dining, Entertainment and Shopping as add-ons to
the Indian and Chinese Outbound travelers and curates special packages
for them based on their preferences and profile - which are differ from
global products in experience type, culinary habits, and prices among
others.

With over 4000+ Travel agents, 5000+ excursions, 30000+ Customers Handled and 15 destinations, Guiddoo offers an array of services like Tours and Activities, Dining, Entertainment and Shopping as add-ons to the Indian Outbound travelers and curates special packages for them. It was established in June 2013 by Vineet, Nidhi, Prashant and Biswajeet in the form of an App only Audio Guiding Product from In5 Dubai, and later pivoted to the current tours and activities model in 2017.

To recall, in last month NASDAQ-listed Ebix, through one of its subsidiaries, has acquired controlling stake in Zillious , a New Delhi-based Travel tech startup, for an undisclosed amount.

About SOSV & Chinaccelerator

Chinaccelerator,
the first startup accelerator to launch in China, is a
mentorship-driven program helping internet startups from around the
world cross borders - from the world into China and from China to the
world. It is operated by the venture fund SOSV with $500M+ AUM operating
six global accelerators. Chinaccelerator offers three months of
rigorous guidance, training and resources from mentors, partners and
investors. The robust and supportive alumni network continues beyond the
Chinaccelerator program.

Travel Technology Startup ‘Guiddoo’ Raises $800K from Global Investors

Mumbai-headquartered Guiddoo, a one-stop shop for in-destination experiences, has secured capital of $800,000 (₹6 crore approx.) in the Pre-Series A funding, held in July this year. The funding was led by global investors including Rennie Ratadia (Singapore), Stephen Dmello (Dubai) & Angshuman Sarkar (India).

Guiddoo aims to leverage the fresh funding to expand operations, increase destination reach, product portfolio and to further develop its technology platform. It will strengthen its portfolio by adding new destinations under its ‘customised packages’ offering and will beef up teams to manage the increase in operations in the Global and Indian Market.

In terms of the strategy for business growth, the company aims to commence China operations by Feb 2019. Another focus area will be to build a pan India distribution network for the its Tours & Activities & Holidays products.

With this fresh funding, Guiddoo has raised a total of $1.1 million in funding over three rounds. Prior to this funding, the startup had raised $300,000 in Pre-Series A funding from investors including Pawan Borle & Nirmal Singh as well as new Investors including Manish Prasad, Vineet Varma, Nick Haulkoury, and Abhai S. Rao.

In 2015, the startup had raised seed funding from angel investors.

Founded in 2014 by Nidhi Varma, Vineet Budki, Prashant Choudhary and Biswajeet Karmakar, Guiddoo was started as a tour guiding app but it was in 2015 when it was pivoted into an In-Destination platform offering Tours & Activities, Dining, Shopping and Entertainment options for the Indian International Traveler.

Vineet Budki, Co-founder & CEO at Guiddoo said, "From starting afresh after a pivot from the Audio Guide Business Model to garnering 700% YOY revenue growth in the Tours & Activities business, and securing fresh funding from our trusted investors, it has been an incredible journey. It is a reflection of our commitment to make significant contribution to the India Outbound Travel space by delivering innovative product enhancements."

He added, “We are delighted to have secured this significant bridge round of funding. The capital raised will help us expand our footprint, augment our infrastructure and acquire promising talent to implement the blueprint. We are motivated more than ever to build robust products and extend the best services possible to our consumers."

“We are excited to invest in Guiddoo in their endeavour to bring best-in-class, digital in-destination experiences to travel enthusiasts. We are confident of the team’s potential and are looking forward to the company’s growth story in the near future,” said Stephen DMello who runs successful Investment, Real Estate & Trading businesses in Middle East and Asia.

"Having been an avid traveller, I saw Indian tourists in all parts of the world. Guiddoo presents me with a great opportunity to tap into outbound Indian tourists, I see great potential in this segment with more and more Indians travelling abroad Every Year,” says Rennie Ratadia, Global Investor.

Guiddoo has been actively helping travellers by providing seamless services so that they can make the most of their trips. Guiddoo offers an array of services like Guided Tours and Activities, Dining, Entertainment and Shopping as add-ons to the Indian Outbound travellers and curates special packages for them which are unique to the Indian travellers, and are different from the global products in experience, culinary habits and prices among others.

In August last year, the startup had launched its first Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) Program in India, which is specifically designed for to-be-entrepreneurs in Travel Industry - who will be mentored and nurtured by the Guiddoo leadership team

The Guiddoo app is available on both Android iOS platforms and has a robust web platform for its Travel Agent network. Guiddoo offers its Tours & Activities across 11 international destinations through 4000+ Travel Agents across India and also has institutional partners including Cleartrip & Yatra.

Source - Newsvoir

IIT Madras Alumni Startup Is Breaking The Age Old Traditions Of Hospitality By Providing Hotel Booking By The Hour

Do you remember the days when you have to hire a cab for the entire day even though you needed to use it for a few hours? I guess no. After the dent made by services like Ola and Uber in the cab industry, it is hard to imagine booking a cab for an entire day when you need it only to go to work.

Unfortunately, this has not changed when it comes to hotel booking. Travelling is something which everyone loves. But what makes a travel costly; is the stay at a hotel. Even if you are travelling to give your exam or attend any business meeting for which you need a room just for few hours, you have to do a full day booking (12 noon – 12 noon) in a hotel, which in turns make your travel cost rise.

Sandeep Jaiswal and Pranav Prabhakar, after experiencing the same thing they felt it is unethical and unfair to be charged for an entire day when they use a room for only a few hours. And this is where they stumbled upon the idea for catering the need and founded MiStay, with the aim of breaking the age-old traditions and changing the rules of hospitality to make travel flexible and fair to travellers.

MiStay is a travel tech company which allows booking hotel rooms by the pack of hours with flexible check-in and check-out times.

“The problem with rigid full day booking affects every kind of travellers. MiStay allows travellers can book a room for an appropriate combination of slots and pay only for the time stayed. It offers, booking based on slots (8 am – 11 am (Morning slot), 12 noon – 7 pm (Day slot), 8 pm – 7 am (Night slot)). This not only fills the needs of frequent business travellers as well as leisure travellers who require room for less than a day or with flexible timings but also gives hotels a channel to increase their occupancy and revenue per available room,” says Pranav Prabhakar, Co-founder and CTO, MiStay.

Meet The Innovators

Sandeep Jaiswal who is an IIT Madras alumnus has 2 years of experience in management consulting. Most recently, he worked with strategy consulting firm, Essex Lake Group, where he devised profit enhancement solutions for one of the largest banks in South Africa, and also filed 2 patents for developing internal analytical tools. Prior to joining Essex, he co-founded a for-profit social enterprise AmrutDhara which was aimed at reducing the environmental hazard from bottled water by providing a sustainable alternative.

Whereas, Pranav Prabhakar, a computer science graduate from IIT Madras with over 3 years of experience in design and product development has worked as software engineer at LinkedIn. Prior to joining LinkedIn, he had founded a new media startup, Cinemagrapher, where he developed an innovative product to help photographers and marketers automatically create cinemagraphs from short videos. Earlier, he had also co-founded HireFellas, a curated marketplace for photographers.

At MiStay, Jaiswal is responsible for driving the overall vision of the company to ensure customer delight while leading the on-ground operations, partnerships and business development for the sustainable growth of the company. Whereas Prabhakar leads the technology and design to build innovative solutions for customers while making sure that all efforts are grounded in user-centered principles.

Business Mockup

MiStay has partnered with around 115 hotels across 8 cities in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon). The hotels range from 2 star to 5 star hotels including some chains like Pride hotels, Mango hotels, etc. With an initial investment of Rs 4 lacs, the founders developed the entire platform in-house. Launched in April 2016, the website is the consumer facing portal through which one can make a booking at a hotel.

“We have also developed MiStay Extranet, which is a software provided to the partner hotels for managing room rates and inventory. Later in October 2016, we have launched MiStay for Business, a portal developed for corporates, where the travel managers in any company can make bookings on behalf of the company employees,” says Prabhakar.

Duo has also developed the effective payment mode. They have 2 models of payment- Pay at Hotel, where customer makes direct payment at the hotel in which TAC is collected by MiStay for all bookings for a month at the end of the month. Another is Pay Online, where customer pays online to MiStay at the time of booking. The net amount after deducting TAC is transferred to the hotel before the guest checks in.

“In case of last minute booking or a booking happens on a non working day, payment is transferred on the day of check in or next working day. Hotels can opt for either or both modes of payment,” informs Prabhakar.

MiStay takes around 20% of the booking amount as referral commission from the partner hotels on the bookings done through the platform.

What Makes Them Stand Strong In The Market

If we look at the figuers, hotel industry in India is a $20 billion market and MiStay is targeting the business travel segment primarily, which is estimated to constitute around $12-14 billion of the total hotel booking market. In India, this market has just started getting recognized. And various OTAs like Goibibo, MakeMyTrip, etc. as well as some other startups working on the same concept are the key competitors for MiStay. But if we talk about the global market, startup competes with players like DayUse.com and ByHours.com.

“Going forward, direct tie-ups with corporates to manage their employees’ business travel will be a key customer acquisition channel. Hence, the offline travel agents serving the corporates would be competitor in that market,” says Prabhakar.

Despite competing with companies like MayMyTrip, Goibibo etc. there USP, extreme due-diligence in partnering with hotels is something which makes founders stand strong in the market.

“Apart from the two core pillars – paying only for time stayed, and flexible check-in/check-out times, another key aspect that differentiates MiStay from any other player in the industry is the extreme due-diligence in partnering with hotels. All the partner hotels are strategically located near key business hubs of the cities or near the transit areas like airports and railway stations. More than 75% of the MiStay partner hotels have Tripadvisor rating more than 4 out of 5,” says Prabhakar.

Future Map

In the short span of time, this Bengaluru-based startup has seen 36% of repeated customers. MiStay, which was one of the 10 startups nationally selected for Axillor Ventures Accelerator program intend to make their every customer their brand evangelist by ensuring them the best hotel experience.

“We have already started seeing sudden growth in last few weeks. We have seen more than 200% month-on-month growth, and this is likely to increase multi-folds as we start tapping various growth channels,” concludes Prabhakar..

Our Take

Online penetration in hotel booking in India is only around 20% and if we talk about corporate hotel booking market in India, it is very fragmented, unorganized and largely served offline. However, the industry is slowing moving towards becoming more online. With the help off mushrooming startups like Mistay, Self-Booking Technology (SBTs) are going to be the trend in corporate travel market in coming years.

Travel Tech Startup Naturenama Gets $225K in Seed Funding from White Unicorn Ventures

Mumbai-based travel-tech startup Naturenama has raised Rs 1.5 crore ($225,000) in seed funding from White Unicorn Ventures. Started in January this year, the startup will use the funding for technology enhancement, brand building and marketing. The company’s website is yet to go live and it will work as a travel guide and as a planner for wildlife and adventure travels.

Naturenama is the bridge between you and the great outdoors. Whether it is a nature walk, a safari in the African bush or a trek through the frozen Himalaya - the startup ensure you have the best experience possible.

"At Naturenama, we understand exactly what’s missing today and with our platform we plan to fill the many gaps in the fragmented market that is outdoor travel. We work with verified partners from across the world and provide a seamless travel experience to our customers," the startup said.

Shaunak Modi, Founder Shaunak brings his 10+ years of experience in the field to Naturenama. He has travelled across India’s outdoors as a wildlife and landscape photographer and has spent time in various forests for his wildlife research. Given his experience, he understands well the intricacies of wildlife travel in India. A student of both journalism and herpetology; he writes about wildlife conservation issues and has been a part of research teams studying the reptiles and amphibians in various parts of the Western Ghats.

White Unicorn Ventures ha invested in 15 companies so far including Routofy, Shaadisaga, Justride, Unstockify, Hostelhousing, Lernr and Carcrew. It is an investment firm that specializes in seed funding and early-stage support for Startups.

White Unicorn Ventures vision is to play a critical role in building and nurturing the startup ecosystem by helping young entrepreneurs in their early steps, expansion, bridge funding, as well as providing incubation co-sharing start up real estate space.

It specialize in value addition and advisory services for categories ranging from Robotics, IoT, Real Estate 3D VR, Manufacturing, Restaurants, ITeS, Services, Fintech, SaaS, Mass Rapid Transport Solutions, Water Management, Governmental Services, Education. Also, the firm is looking to raise $20 million fund to invest in early-stage startups.

Image Source: ShutterStock