{"id":46892,"date":"2023-10-20T15:51:41","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/app-aims-to-let-travellers-find-a-bit-of-home-wherever-they-are-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:51:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:51:41","slug":"app-aims-to-let-travellers-find-a-bit-of-home-wherever-they-are-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/app-aims-to-let-travellers-find-a-bit-of-home-wherever-they-are-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"App aims to let travellers find a bit of home wherever they are – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Teresa Truda was in the office of her Melbourne ad agency at 10pm when she came up with the idea for her startup.<\/p>\n

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She was regularly working16-hour days and travelling for her work, and missed the personal touch on these long trips away from home.<\/p>\n

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Truda had a waxing session with her usual person, Linda, the next morning, but had to forgo this for the work trip.<\/p>\n

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It was this concept of bringing along the personal touch from home for a business traveller that led to the creation of AFTR.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI literally wanted to pack Linda up in a suitcase and bring her with me so I could get the service that I\u2019m used to in Melbourne,\u201d Truda tells StartupSmart.<\/i><\/p>\n


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\u201cI was frustrated that I couldn\u2019t get the particular personal service at the time I needed. The idea came from being time-poor and not being able to get services done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A digital \u2018little black book\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Along with co-founder Zia Word, Truda has created the AFTR app, which will allow business travellers to find, book and pay for personalised, curated professional services on-demand within an hour.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s billed as a \u201csmart little black book\u201d for travellers, with information for every service a traveller might need, tailored specifically to their needs and preferences.<\/p>\n

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Word says it\u2019ll work through a combination of human curation and computer learning.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s almost like we\u2019re building Netflix in real life for brick-and-mortar service providers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnywhere you go you can trust us. It\u2019s for personal services on demand, curated by someone you trust in a city you don\u2019t know very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s like having Linda from Melbourne with you in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Although there are already many options to help visitors find the best cafe or local gym, Word says the fact that AFTR is targeted at business travellers and grows to learn what the user likes that sets it apart.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you get to a city you could start following Yelp or you could ask the hotel, but that\u2019s always based on someone else\u2019s idea of what\u2019s good,\u201d Word says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re basing it on your own idea and moving with that person wherever they go. It\u2019s the inside contacts for wherever you are, the little black book targeted at business travellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The startup will be partnering with a number of small boutique businesses in the APAC region to achieve this. It\u2019s in a private beta at the moment, and the founders aim to publicly launch it early next year.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s all been bootstrapped by the co-founders so far, but an investment round will be opening soon.<\/p>\n

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Competing in Asia<\/b><\/h2>\n

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The co-founders are speaking from Taiwan, where they\u2019re about to take part in the Asia Super Team competition.<\/p>\n

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AFTR is representing Australia in the contest for businesses in the Asia region, with the team participating in activities and judged via public voting.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s an exciting opportunity for the startup to test the waters in its target market, Word says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAsia is a market that we\u2019re really keen to focus on,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s quite close and there are plenty of business travellers in the region.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s about learning about Taiwan and what can be achieved, and also so they can learn about us.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe don\u2019t know what to expect as well so there\u2019s that element of surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Want to grow your business<\/i> with Instagram?<\/i><\/a> <\/i>StartupSmart School can help.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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