For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant more time at home and less opportunity for travel.
But two Lethbridge entrepreneurs are hoping to change that, by bringing the world to your phone through their app called Neuwly.
“Neuwly is… a beautiful platform of discovering the world, finding guides you might love, creating your “herd” and discovering the world through other people’s eyes,” co-founder Steve Christensen said. “Really introduce us to some of the best things that maybe we didn’t know existed.”
The app allows people to livestream events, such as tours or learning opportunities put on by hosts from places around the globe.
Originally launched in November 2019 for the physical tourism market, Christensen and co-founder Greg Stonehocker were forced to pivot their idea when COVID-19 altered the landscape.
“The whole world changes as well during this pandemic so everything’s different now,” Stonehocker said. “We had to restructure, re-sculpt the whole idea to where we’re at.”
The new version, released this past September, focused on broadening people’s horizons under COVID restrictions, while growing guides’ audiences.
And with a base extending as far away as Budapest, the idea is starting to take hold among users.
“We kind of held back a little bit to get a good understanding of what they needed and they wanted,” Stonehocker said.
“We’ve been able to iterate very quickly and add a few new things in what they’ve really needed in this new kind of marketplace.”
Now Christensen and Stonehocker will take that feedback and continue to grow their platform.
“We found the market fit and now it’s just time to pour gas on the fire,” Christensen said.
“We’re going to go through a round to raise money, and after we raise those funds we have all sorts of ideas and implementations we’ll start to jump into.”