Betabeat has dug up SEC filings about the Swedish travel startup, Tripl, showing that they’ve raised $300,000 out of a $500,000 debt round. This comes as Tripl’s second round of investment, which was led by NYC based VCs. We covered their first round in May of 2011, where they also raised $300,000. The startup is currently based in Stockholm, however, on their job page they mention they’re in the process of moving half of their team to NYC. Betabeat confirmed this to take place on the 19th of this month.
Early this February I spoke briefly with Peter Sullivan, co-founder of Tripl, who told me that they are currently undergoing “a very big product re-iteration,” and they are waiting for some events to take place before they make an official announcement.
In its current iteration, Tripl keeps you updated with your friends’ trips by helping request recommendations. If you add a trip to say London, your friends who know someone is London will be asked to recommend a friend and set up an introduction for you. Tripl allows users to engage with global travelers coming to their city and creates notifications based on social relevancy. To give an incentive to hang out with travelers, they provide travel discounts for locals with good reputations for whenever they decide to go traveling for themselves.
It’s expected that eventually some startup will finally solve the social travel puzzle, which more than a few startups have been fighting over without a clear winner mobilizing the masses. Tripl nails today’s design aesthetic with its appealing rounded pastel shapes, but I get the impression they’ve had trouble retaining users. We’ll have to wait and see how they change their model!
