Startup entrepreneurs conceptualize an idea, create a product and with proper planning execute their service plans. The trend of startups is catching up in this tiny state and many brilliant young minds are striving to come up with innovative ideas. One such Startup idea we are covering in this article is called ‘Trailleo’ so let’s take a look at what it is all about.
Dave Paiva, a graduate in electronics & telecommunications engineering from PCCE (Padre Conceicao College of Engineering), Verna, decided to venture into the field of software development. Dave loves spending time outdoors either trekking, going on long bike rides, or cycling. “Trailleo was started pre-pandemic in Jan 2019 and is bootstrapped (self-funded by co-founders. Currently, we are at the pre- product-market fit stage,” said Dave.
“I have a degree in electronics & telecommunications engineering, but sometime during my third year, I decided to get into the software so that it can be used to make life a little bit easier,” he said adding that he had worked and interned in Bangalore and Mumbai before settling down in Goa. “I had interned and worked in startups in Bangalore & Mumbai & currently work at in a startup based in Goa that is solving problems in the fintech & mobility space. My current primary role at Trailleo is to look after the tech side of things, from the server to the web to the user-facing mobile & web app,” said Dave.
According to Dave, the Trailleo team consists of three members (or we can call them co-founders) including Dave himself. The first co-founder, Mihir Umarye, handles the overall product planning, and the second co-founder Rajarshi Deb handles the operations and data sourcing. We also have Shantanu Korgaonkar who sometimes helps me with some of the tech stuff as well,” he added.
“Mihir graduated from BITS Goa as an engineer,” said Dave adding, that he has worked previously in data analyst & product roles in companies in West Bengal & Bangalore. “Mihir decided to follow his passion in 2019 and joined India Hikes as a trek leader 2019, where he led 20+ trekking expeditions in the Himalayas. Apart from Trailleo, he is currently a product manager at Saras Analytics, a data analytics company based out of Hyderabad.”
“Rajarshi prefers to spend time outdoors rather than in an office space,” said Dave adding, that he is based in Mumbai and was working in the finance industry before switching over to the outdoor travel industry to follow his true passion. “He joined India Hikes where he has led 450 + expeditions in the Himalayas. Rajarshi is very experienced when it comes to leading treks. Apart from Trailleo, he is currently working as an operations lead in another outdoor tourism startup based out of Mumbai called FitTrip.”
What is Trailleo?
According to Dave, Trailleo is a platform for outdoor trails, where users can search trails they want to trek along. “It contains most of the information required to reach the start point and tackle the trail info like how to get there, the best time to visit, distance, max altitude, what scenery to expect, and especially the trekking route itself is all personally curated by the team. We have around 100 trekking trails in India from the snow-capped Himalayas to the north to the green rolling hills in the south. Another unique feature is that these maps can be used offline as well along with navigation. This is especially useful in remote areas where finding good network coverage is highly unlikely,” explained Dave.
The Idea
According to Dave the idea of Trailleo is the brainchild of Mihir & Rajarshi. “Actually, they are the ones who came up with the idea of Trailleo. They met at India Hikes where they used to work as trek leaders. They initially wanted to make trekking more accessible, safer, and fun to the general public,” said Dave.
How does Trailleo Work?
Trailleo is designed to serve two main functions, explore and search the places. “It is a place where people can explore the different trails with a relevant info so they are better equipped on the trail, such as the distance, facilities on the trail, how to get there, etc: a sort of Google for outdoor trails,” said Dave adding, Once a person gets to the starting point of the trek, the user should have the confidence to navigate easily without getting lost even when there is no network connection.
The Projection and Future Plans
According to Dave, he and his team is currently pressing for the outdoor activity sector in India. “India is a land of a diverse landscape, yet the outdoor sports/tourism industry remains untapped for the majority of the people living in the urban areas. With the ongoing pandemic, people are tired of staying indoors but at the same time scared of crowded areas,” said Dave adding, that clubbing this with the work-from-home culture makes life more difficult. “We see many people from the cities wanting to explore the countryside more. We plan to add a number of features this year in 2022, mainly with the main focus of letting users record and create their own trails as well as making the maps more interactive as well as containing more information.”
Conclusion
Before we conclude I want to share the information I have on the fate of startups in Goa. “The students would be to get an internship at a startup. This way they will get an idea of the various things needed to start and launch a software product, from the user experience how to plan the overall product and which features to focus on first to marketing,” said Dave adding, Twitter is an awesome place to be in if you want to get into startups or build your own thing. “By following the right people you can get an idea of the startup/tech scene in India & around the world by still being in Goa. If you are already working, my advice would be to start a side project. You don’t need to register as a company. Just start a side project and put it out there. That way you can test your idea before committing a substantial amount of time and resources. With the ongoing “No Code” movement you don’t even need to know to code. Tools such as Bubble, Wix, Glide, Notion, etc allow us to create simple apps on the web without writing much or any code. Most important of all, don’t forget to build stuff that people actually want.”
