a note from us
- there are two key factors when choosing your next destination, meal, or activity: recommendations & reviews
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recommendations from friends usually come in the form of:
- a conversation where you frantically scribble suggestions on a notepad you can’t find the next day 🗒️
- shared notes or website links that get lost in your phone’s clutter
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reviews come from:
- Yelp/Google where random people make decisions for you 🤨
- local guides or travel bloggers that give touristy lists
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recommendations from friends usually come in the form of:
- Camber, today’s company, has an organized, interpersonal solution for recommendations & reviews
in a sentence
Camber is an app that lets you share your favorite places with friends, plan your next trip, and discover spots near and far ✈️
- share your favorite places: categories include food, drinks, sights, museums, coffee, hotels, outdoors, dessert, shopping, self-care, activities, exercise
- plan your next trip: look through friends’ recommendations and mark places you want to go
- discover spots: a map interface allows users to find places down the street and around the world 📍
bulleted version: stressed about finding the right West Village spot to take your Hinge date? stock their Camber profile to find their favorite hidden gem!
the basics
- industry: travel, social media, reviews & recommendations
- headquarters: Los Angeles, CA 🌊 🏄🏻♀️
- year founded: 2020
- company size: 2 employees
- app stage: beta access
- amount raised: none, looking for the right investor(s) 👀
due diligence
what we like
- room for improvement in the recommendation & review market: sources for getting destination inspiration are fragmented, rarely mobile-first, potentially harmful to businesses, and often unreliable
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captivating users: this platform isn’t vacation-dependent; Camber can be used for long trips or any casual weekday night
- and with eye-catching design by Break Maiden (the design firm behind Olipop), it’s easy to become addicted to browsing near or far 🎨
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great opportunity to monetize: any location-based app has high potential for premium ad revenue 💵
- we also see potential to diversify revenue through online bookings
potential risks
- great features but we’re looking for more: we’d like to see a recent recommendation page or access to recs outside the list of people we follow
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wide target audience: the branding says gen z & millennial, but our parents would love this app
- and with appeal from users with different interests, it may be difficult to market to all foodies, museum goers, bargain finders, and outdoor explorers
- place discovery: reliant on users to add new places to the Camber database
founder profiles
- Mady Maio (prev. @ StoryFile)
- Lauren Wolfen (additionally @ Bliss Point Media)
comps
- Apple Maps Favorites
- Yelp
- Foursquare
- Tripadvisor
- that well-traveled, expert friend
why Camber: while experimenting with the app, team bulletpitch happened to be traveling all over the grid; it was exciting checking out our recommendations from around the world! 🌎
want to try out Camber? click this link on your Apple device