BACKTRACKER: the social guide for backpackers by backpackers

BackTracker is the social guide for backpackers by backpackers. Problem: Current resources are time-consuming and irrelevant for our market, as backpackers form a distinct group which seeks unique experiences. Solution: BackTracker is a platform for backpackers to record their trip, discover what to do and where to go and stay in contact with friends, family and other backpackers on their travels. Through a well-positioned, authentic brand, our vision is to become the go-to resource for all backpacking needs.

THE IDEA

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Product: A social travel guide that is consistently relevant and up-to-date.

BackTracker is a platform for backpackers to record their trip with helpful suggestions on where to go, what to do and where to stay, eat and drink. Friends and family back home can follow their trip, and other backpackers can read and use it for inspiration and advice.

Our iOS app has 17,000 downloads, we launched our web app last week and will be launching Android at the end of January:

www.backtracker.co
Developments in 2016: automation of content and content moderation, integration of external API’s to validate revenue model and development of the social media element of the platform.

PROBLEM SOLVED

Problem: Disparate resources for backpackers are time-consuming and irrelevant.

Existing backpacker resources like Lonely Planet have become out-dated and unsustainable; and they don’t successfully harness the most powerful part of the backpacking community: the advice and suggestions from other backpackers who have recently been to a destination.

Travel content on social platforms like TripAdvisor isn’t specific enough to backpackers and there is often minimal to no content for places ‘off the beaten track’.

Travel bloggers are a much used resource but there are so many that extracting useful information takes hours of surfing the web.

REVENUE MODEL

BackTracker will become an e-commerce platform for travel bookings from 2017. We will be testing our revenue streams from April 2016 to validate our model. The focus will be on hostels and transport:

Hostel bookings: 70% of backpackers stay in hostels. We aim to target direct bookings and take 10% commission through our own platform from April 2017 (taking 5% and testing the model through external APIs from Apri 2016).

Transport bookings: Disparate resources in native languages make this time-consuming and difficult. We want to make this as easy to book as plotting a journey pin and an interactive part of the journey planning experience.

EXIT STRATEGY

Our current accelerator programme invests in Series A companies. We also have three other VC funds interested in investing at a Series A round, which we intend to close by September 2016, after a successful European summer growing our user base and validating our revenue model.

Source: icnw