Featured Startup Pitch: Chronicles of Earth - A social network for travelers

ELEVATOR PITCH

Chronicles of Earth lets travelers capture, preserve, and share the essence of their adventures, and book their next journey from sources they trust.

PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Chronicles of Earth is a social network for travelers where they can interact, creating a community of travelers connected by the trips they take and the stories they share. It is a Travel Startups Incubator company. Travel Startups Incubator funds early Seed-stage travel technology ideas by providing $25,000 investments and mentorship to talented travel entrepreneurs.

Their stories are told with Chronicles, which are journals of multimedia ‘vignettes.’ Each vignette is like a chapter in a book and is located on a map and positioned on a timeline. Users can add photos, video, audio annotations, and text to each chapter (Vignettes) to build a complete picture of their experiences, through the mobile app or desktop version. Each Chronicle they make is added to their traveler resume, to establish their credentials and earn them credibility as a traveler.

Users can share their stories with their friends and family, find kindred spirits, and consult trusted sources to determine where to go and what to do on their next adventure. This creates a community of travelers worldwide that can bond over their experiences, while exploring the world.

Travelers looking for adventure and inspiration will be able to search for their next trip by keyword, location, area of interest, and Chronicle author. Additionally, users can take their journeys offline, saving their Chronicles as travel journals or albums in PDF format, ready for printing.

DIFFERENTIATORS VS. THE COMPETITION

Chronicles of Earth finds its competitive edge in evocative storytelling and being able to share their stories with anyone on any device or social media site through a network focused specifically on travelers and tourism. Whilst popular existing social travel platforms provide a way for audiences to share photos, Chronicles of Earth focuses on the storytelling element, sharing these anecdotes with a growing community of fellow travelers.

Chronicles of Earth differentiates itself through establishing trust in the online community. Chroniclers are able to find and follow their friends on their journeys, building relationships and rapport. The focus is on the social element, as opposed to relying on the advice and opinions of anonymous strangers, which is the case for most other travel review websites.

FOUNDERS’ STORY

Chronicles of Earth was founded by past colleagues Bill Schwegler, former CEO at Uber-acquired deCarta, and Ann Cowan, former deCarta VP of Engineering. The two share years of combined experience in geospatial technology and application and platform software development. They reunited to form Chronicles of Earth to use their passion for travel, maps and history to create a new way for travelers to share their adventures. They also believe, in the words of Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

BUSINESS MODEL

Freemium business model. All Chronicles have geographically and behaviorally targeted ads. For travel businesses, branded Chronicles (native ads) are available. Premium subscriptions allow the use of the API to embed Chronicles. Chronicles of Earth takes a commission on travel bookings and memorabilia (printed photo albums and travel journals).