We talked about sales development with Ankit Jain, CEO of Pathloom. Pathloom is the most comprehensive outdoor trip planning app helping people get outside through the pandemic and beyond.
How would you describe your company in an elevator pitch?
Pathloom is the most comprehensive outdoor trip planning app in the market helping hikers, campers and outdoor enthusiasts discover unique places and more easily plan their trips. The single easy-to-use app provides outdoor enthusiasts a new way to get outside.
Pathloom is on a mission to get more people outdoors, more often. Featured in GearJunkie and Moosejaw Mountaineering, among others.
What are you the best at?
Pathloom’s user interface and user experience are highly intuitive, yet the app packs a ton of powerful features.
The team has expertise in early-stage startups, marketing, tech, GIS, big data, and of course, the outdoors. The founder, Ankit, was previously an aerospace engineer and researcher having worked with large-scale NASA datasets to help mission planners plan missions to the Moon! Also, he has traveled to some of the most remote regions of the Himalayas reaching altitudes of nearly 20,000 ft! His passions include camping, hiking, backpacking, thru-hiking and off-roading. In 2020, he completed the 170-mile thru-hike of the Tahoe Rim Trail in California. Other team members include past National Park Service rangers, entrepreneurs from the music industry, among other diverse backgrounds.
Pathloom also has an impressive advisory team consisting of founders, C-level executives, executives with multiple exits, board members, YC-alums, etc.
How did you find your first customers?
Pathloom has been building and engaging with the outdoors community early on. The twice-a-week blog, weekly social media posts and engagement in various outdoor forums have all led to us finding our early adopters – reaching 3,000+ waitlisters for the app!
What are your customers saying about your product?
“The convenience of needing only one app is amazing!” -Alex I. (Backpacker, California)
“The combination of simplicity and depth is what makes Pathloom unlike anything I’ve used before.” -Nicole Q. (Day-Hiker, Massachusetts)
“Finally! An app where I can go outdoors and be confident I am fully prepared.” -Nathan B. (Thru-Hiker, Washington)
What are your proud achievements so far?
Our goal is to make the experience of building and planning outdoor trips easy, efficient and social. We are in beta testing which already has 215,000+ campsites and 45,000+ trails across the US.
Below are some quick highlights from the past month:
- 3,000+ total waitlisters for the app
- We exhibited at Startup Grind Accelerate 2021 (top 5% out of 3,000+ companies).
- We’ve just completed the Moosejaw Outdoor Accelerator (top 4 out of 100+ applicants); we’re partnered with Moosejaw, one of the biggest outdoor retailers in the US.
- We’ve been featured in the press: Gear Junkie, Startup Pill and others; and a leading outdoor podcast.
What is the next big thing in your industry?
The next big thing for us is to launch the product in the summer of 2021 and gauge the response from users. We have a lot more features on our road map, and are excited to continue helping outdoor enthusiasts get outside in a meaningful and easy way.
People are getting outside in record numbers, and the participation rates in 2022 will indicate where the industry is headed post-pandemic. However, we firmly believe that people will continue to go outside as the majority of first-time campers are likely to go camping again (KOA Report).
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?
In the next 6-12 months, we have exciting milestones ahead of us. From launching out the app publicly, to growing the team, to generating revenue – all these are going to be major traction and validation points for what we’re building at Pathloom and the impact it will have in the outdoor app market.
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