https://www.loom.com/share/00e5eb4c3f4340d5b8fb9b57b4b7e0fa

Simplify travel research and booking process

LFG is an AI-powered discovery engine that enables travellers to easily discover new places and reviews aggregated from various social media channels, save and organize content, book and plan their trips - all in one platform.

Singapore / Singapore

As fans of DOTA2, we built a predictive model to determine which professional teams had the best drafts historically, and the highest chances to win the major international competition (TI). No URL, but we backtested and generated about 10% ROI.

2 years. Met in 2022 as NUS Overseas College programme batchmates, where we were based in Vietnam for a 6-month internship at local startups.

Launched private BETA in Aug 2023. Launched public BETA in Feb 2024 on Product Hunt (finished Top #14 of the day and Top #50 of the week).

Average 1,500 monthly visitors, with 10% retention. 22% of total visitors based in the US.

536 total signups, 18% MoM growth, since August 2023.

9,042 locations recommended on platform, since August 2023.

Part-time all of 2023 - while Darryl was working and Shi Hong was studying, full-time. Ideated in January 2023 and ran initial MVP for itinerary generator until March 2023. Learnt users preferred lists of recommendations, rather planned itinerary. Pivoted over April-July to build social recommendation platform. Launched private BETA in August 2023, with current concept.

Full-time as of 2024 - optimizing and launching for public BETA in February. Currently see bottleneck in supply of recommendations, hence now focused on building AI-powered discover engine to aggregate more content. Joining Antler VN6 cohort full-time April 2024.

536 users. Average 1,500 monthly visitors.
Visitors without account can browse recommendations freely. Users with account can organize content and share recommendations.

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Joining Antler VN6 program this April 2024. Goal to find potential additional founding member with domain expertise in travel and/or creator economy, and build network of mentors/advisors in Vietnam (our beachhead market).

In Vietnam, we found it very difficult and time-consuming looking for good local recommendations.

Initial surveys and interviews revealed that other travelers often feel overwhelmed by planning and decision-making.

To address this, we built a MVP itinerary generator. We produced over 200 itineraries based on travel interests, but we learned travelers preferred exploring freely rather than sticking to rigid plans. We also observed preference towards word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, creators and other like-minded travelers too.

And so, we launched our current BETA based around the concept of socializing personal recommendations. The initial response was positive, showing a desire for genuine, user-generated content.

However, feedback saw users wanted more than just recommendations: they wanted more fresh, real-time content and better booking options all in one place. Hence, building towards our current direction.

Right now, the average travelers spend at least 5 hours researching just recommendations across 7-8 websites/apps.

However, modern travelers seek seamless and personalized experiences.

Market research shows 45% prefer booking a trip from start to finish from a single website.

The top 3 online travel resources in 2023 were OTAs, search engines, and social media.

Integrating all these together is possible using AI with maturing LLMs and GPT technologies.

From partners:

(1) Affiliate and booking fees from merchants/vendors from F&B, tours/experiences, accommodations, eSIM, and travel insurance sectors.

(2) 1-1 consultation fee with travel creators and KOLs

(3) Sponsored ad content

From ourselves:

(4) Booking fees from our own guided tours/experiences

(5) Premium AI-powered itinerary generator to convert saved recommendations into detailed and optimized itinerary

Forecasted to earn up to US$150M by Year 5.

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No.

Foo Shi Hong, co-founder and CTO; and
Jonathan Tay, founding SWE and tech lead.

Our co-founder Yu Ko has dropped from a full time C-suite position. She still works part-time on product design with us, but has decided to pursue a full-time position as a product owner at Singapore Airlines.

(1) Sustainable-focused travel platform to discover and book eco-conscious F&B, accommodations, and experiences across Asia, nurturing responsible travel choices.

(2) Travel Now, Pay Later solution for young travelers, bridging the gap for those without access to credit or medium-high income level.

(3) Consumer app to discover the top bubble tea deals wherever you go, helping bubble tea shops optimize daily revenue through optimized yield management.

When studying fluid mechanics in uni, Darryl discovered that if you have a cup of tea with some tea leaves in it, and you spin only the tea liquid itself, the tea leaves will spin around the middle. But, if you spin both the cup and the tea liquid together, the tea leaves will spin around the outer edge. This is due to different boundary layers and centrifugal forces in fluid mechanics.

With the majority of our current users from the US, we believe YC can help us further solidify our presence in the market and develop our product for the target user needs.

Raimie Tang (Metafi, YCS22) also encouraged us to apply, whom Shi Hong met when he was in first year uni. Raimie is an inspiration for us, having exited his first startup and joining YC with his second since Shi Hong first met him.

AirBNB's initial funding story, Raimie Tang and Tech in Asia Founders Breakfast with Garry Tan (Shi Hong has a photo with him)