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BRISBANE startup Outbound has been reborn as Travello as the social travel app gets ready to take off.
The social network for travellers helps people connect while abroad and is used in more than 200 countries with almost 45,000 downloads.
Co-founders Mark Cantoni and Ryan Hanly (pictured) launched Outbound in 2015 and decided to switch to a more unique and secure name, as the company finalises a seed capital investment deal.
The rebrand coincides with version 2.0 of the app, featuring improved user interface, interests to search for likeminded travellers, notifications when someone new joins in your area and voting to rate other user's posts on the noticeboard to encourage engagement.
Despite sharing the name with a travel agent app in India, Hanly says the hybrid of 'travel' and 'hello' offers stronger branding compared to Outbound.
"Outbound is a great name, but it is so good that a large number of other travel-related companies also use it in their name," Hanly says.
"Outbound is set to experience exponential growth this year on the back of strong investor interest and some exceptional strategic partnerships we are forming. Given that, we thought the time was right to change now, before we got too big."
The app has gone from strength to strength since completing the Telstra-backed muru-D accelerator program at River City Labs, which included a trip to Silicon Valley to meet with travel giants Expedia and Airbnb.
Cantoni says the focus will now be to grow Travello's user base and monetise the app with location-based deals and activities towards the end of the year.
"It's been a challenge, but an enjoyable one," Cantoni says.
"With the rebrand and the seed round nearing completion, we're really hoping to put fuel on the fire and grow exponentially.
"By cementing and leveraging our strategic partnerships with several companies, we can use their distribution and give them a platform to share their product for mutual benefit."
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