We are publishing an interview of Mr. Sreekanth, CEO, Tripeasel – A travel startup which helps to plan and book one of a kind holiday experiences for couples, families or solo travelers worldwide.
About the founders
- (Sree)kanth Dayanidhi – CEO, Prior experience with startups in Silicon Valley. Experience in bringing a few products from idea to launch.
- Dilip – CTO, More than 7 years of experience. Full Stack Web & Mobile developer. Quit his job from Boston to pursue startup dream in India.
- Suman – COO – 7 years experience in travel industry selling travel packages to over 400 travelers to destinations across the world. Deep connections among supplier network in travel industry.
What is the problem you are trying to solve? Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem? *
Tripeasel is a one stop solution for planning and booking of business and leisure trips from the convenience of your home/office/car (phone) etc. while ensuring an end-to-end personalization.
What is the uniqueness about your Startup?
With an arsenal of over 100+ destination experts (professional travel bloggers, guidebook writers etc), Tripeasel helps you plan and book one of a kind holiday experiences for couples, families or solo travellers ranging from budget to luxury for destinations worldwide. I actually know more than a handful of bloggers and travel writers working for Tripeasel and most have travelled as much if not more than I have. We are talking true expert level. You are getting the best travel advice out there, from people who do it for a living, without having to spend hours (if not weeks!) scrolling through endless online articles and blogs looking for the best travel tips.
Who are the consumers that you are targeting? How is this going to affect them?
We are targeting leisure travelers (young professionals to ultra luxury travelers)
What is the big picture of your startup? Will it lead to something bigger? If so, how?
Today’s millennial generation looks for spending more money in experiences, meaning gathering experiences than accumulating on the products. Travel is one such area where great experiences trumps everything. In order service great experiences, we have recruited experts globally who are award winning travel bloggers, journalists etc. These people have experienced those rare destinations and experiences around the world and can craft itineraries around those rare experiences. So, the goal of tripeasel one day is to make personalization of travel (through rare experiences) not an expensive thing only for people who have lot of money but even people who come under middle class or upper middle class bracket. We hope to expand this model to business trips and luxury segment as well.
What is the success story of your startup in your own words?
The startup has an interesting story. It started with the Founder Sree who was in US in 2014 being co-founder of an US based robotics startup. Due to unfortunate circumstances, that startup had to be wound down which left him utterly disappointed. In order to overcome the disappointment, Sree ended up going on a vacation with his then girl friend and that’s when Tripeasel idea was born. He envisioned a platform wherein people can seek expert advice from renowned travel experts to get their itineraries planned and booked. In the coming months after getting back from vacation, Sree came across an angel investor who was ready to support this vision. That eventually made Sree quit his cushiony job in US and relocate back to India.
After getting back to India, he met his two illustrious co-founders Suman Sukumar (current COO) and Dilip Lilaramani (current CTO). Together, they were able to build a stronger vision and roadmap for Tripeasel which can be commercially successful as well. Two years down the line, Tripeasel has been able to find a product-market fit for their ultimate vision of personalization of holiday travel. Now, we are expanding our line of products for personalization of business and luxury travel segments as well.
For more details about our travel startup, visit https://tripeasel.com/
Thanks Sreekanth. Best of luck!