Trippy is a social and mobile friend-sourced tool launched in September 2011 founded by technology entrepreneur J.R. Johnson. who also founded Lunch.com, OneTime.com and

VirtualTourist VirtualTourist (VT) was a free online travel guide and social networking service. The website had over 1.3 million members, which contributed to sharing 3.7 million photos and posted 1.8 million travel tips for over 70,000 locations. Members we ...

which was acquired by

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, an American online travel shopping company based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacat ...

in 2008.

About Trippy

Trippy aims to simplify and improve travel planning through what they call "friend-sourcing." The app ties into users' social networks, such as

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, to discover which friends, family and contacts have visited the considered destination—whether it be that they've checked-in, lived, worked, or studied there. Through one-click recommendations and Facebook-style commenting, Trippy lets friends suggest what hotels, restaurants, and destinations would be a good fit. The startup offers an auto-complete tool to quickly pull up what you're looking for — from a database of locations. Users can then add places they're considering so that friends can comment on the itinerary, offering feedback in Facebook-style comment feeds.

Launch

After debuting a private beta in September 2011 as a Battlefield Finalist at

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...

Disrupt, Trippy launched the open beta of its friend-sourced solution for travel content in October 2011.

Investors

On November 15, 2011, Trippy announced its first round of seed funding, equaling $1.75M, co-led by

Sequoia Capital Sequoia Capital is an American venture capital firm. The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and specializes in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. , Sequoia's total a ...

and True Ventures. SV Angel also participated, along with individuals including Rob Solomon, Tim Ferriss, Brian Lee, Gil Ebaz, Brandee Barker, Chase Jarvis,

Randi Zuckerberg Randi Jayne Zuckerberg (born February 28, 1982) is an American businesswoman. She is the former director of market development and spokesperson for Facebook, and a sister of the company's co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Prior to working at ...

, Jason Mraz, and

Rachel Zoe Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig (born September 1, 1971) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman and author who rose to prominence as a celebrity wardrobe stylist. She has been credited with the creation of "the boho-meets-rock chic look that came ...

, as well as others. The company announced that the capital would be used to accelerate product development.

References

External links

{{Official website, trippy.com American travel websites