STARTUP STAGE: Triplay uses AI to create personalized travel itineraries

Triplay

Triplay launched in August 2023 to provide fast, easy trip planning for any destination in the world.

The system uses algorithms to optimize suggested routes based on geodata, enabling travelers to save time while visiting as many locations as possible.

What is your 30-second pitch to investors?

Each of you must have experienced the stress of
planning a trip. On average, we have to spend more than 10 hours monitoring
travel blogs and maps. Unfortunately, even thorough preparation doesn’t mean
the trip will go perfectly – not unless you’re using Triplay. This artificial
intelligence travel planner makes the travel planning process as seamless as
possible. Each route is tailored to the user’s interests, maximizing the
immersive experience of a new city. Special convenience is provided by route
optimization. Now every traveler will manage his time in the most productive
way and will be able to see many more interesting places than before. Triplay
has everything you need for a perfect trip. Unique routes to all cities of the
world, flexible editing system and smart route optimization.

Describe both the business and technology
aspects of your startup.

Triplay is an AI-based travel planner. Our
product allows users to get a unique travel plan based on their interests in
seconds. In addition, Triplay algorithms optimize the routes based on geodata,
which allows the traveler to save time and visit as many locations as possible
during the trip.

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

• Strengths:
  • Personalization. The travel personalization
    market is actively growing. AI capabilities allow processing large amounts of
    data and offering unique experiences at the request of users
  • Cost-effective. Triplay reduces the need for
    travel agent services.
  • Dynamic adaptation. Triplay allows for
    real-time updating of travel plans. No city and country restrictions. 
• Weaknesses:
  • The “novelty effect.” In 2023, travelers are
    already actively using AI-powered planners. However, this phenomenon is not yet
    widespread.
  • Classic travel agencies. Despite the emergence
    of modern tools, many travelers prefer travel agencies.  The trend will
    change with the growing trust in AI-based travel planners.
• Opportunities:
  • Growing travel industry: The travel industry
    has seen a resurgence since the pandemic, opening up a vast market for
    AI-powered travel planners.
  • Partnerships. Cooperation with major players
    in the tourism market will provide access to a wide range of services.
  • Technological advancements. Improvements in
    Triplay’s recommendation system will provide convenience throughout the travel
    cycle.
• Threats:
  • New pandemic. A theoretically possible new
    mass pandemic could be a problem for travel market growth.
  • Economic downturns. Economic challenges could
    lead to reduced travel spending, affecting the demand for travel planning
    services.

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

We cut down on travel planning time. The
average user spends more than 10 hours exploring several websites and forums.
Triplay creates a travel plan in a couple of minutes. We make the best use of
travel time by optimizing routes on the itinerary. This means that using
Triplay a traveler will be able to visit more locations than before. We have
started to work on higher level planning functionality, which would allow users
to plan trips to a country or region (multiple cities) in an efficient way by
having all necessary information about available destinations and
transportation options.

We plan to build an AI assistant (chatbot)
which can support users throughout the planning and travel stages eliminating
the need to search the information on the web.

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

Our SEO optimization and paid advertising
efforts allowed us to get our first paying users. We see a lot of interest from
the audience, so we want to spread the word about Triplay to as many people as
possible.

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

In the beginning, we drew on our experience in
travel planning. Then, in the process of interviewing users, we became
convinced that many other people experience similar pain. We realized that our
experience and knowledge would allow us to create a travel planner that would
be in demand. The travel personalization market we are targeting is estimated
by experts to be $100 billion at the moment.

How and when will you make money?

Already today we have paying users and their
number is actively growing. 

What are the backgrounds and previous
achievements of the founding team?

The Triplay team has been together for seven years
We used to develop software for startups and corporations under the Vallex
brand. Now we have a separate team of engineers and develop Triplay. Our team
members are people who are passionate about traveling and technology.

How have you addressed diversity and inclusion
within your business?

We communicate regularly with our users and
continue to develop Triplay. We are already ahead of most direct competitors
and next year we are going to take the lead in the niche of AI-based travel
planners. 

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

We faced challenges from day one. At first it
was important for us to make sure that we could realize our idea. The project
did not even start with an MVP, but with a proof of concept. In the end, we
managed to make a complex technological product simple and understandable for
users.

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

Now is a great time for Triplay. The travel
market has recovered from the pandemic. Confidence in artificial intelligence
is growing. And in terms of technology, we have already surpassed our direct
competitors by developing our product without attracting investment.

A year from now, what state do you think your
startup will be in?

A year from now, we plan to significantly expand Triplay’s
functionality and establish ourselves as a leader among AI-powered travel
planners.

What is your end-game (going public,
acquisition, growing and staying private, etc.)?

We will meet to the active growth of Triplay!
We plan to go for fundraising Q2 2024 with intent to grow the product in order
to change the way the people plan and travel across the globe.