Korean startup WeAreFriends, which operates the online-to-offline (O2O) platformTripriend, has expanded its global presence by entering 180 countries. Tripriend is an attempt to bring a travel theme to the market of social matchmaking apps that connect locals with foreign visitors.

Since its inception, the mobile platform has been a global success, earning recognition for its competitiveness by securing a user pool in more than 180 countries in less than a year since the beta version was released.

Tripriend secures seed funding to expand its business

Tripriend, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to recommend and match friends for travelers in their destination country based on shared interests, received a strategic investment as a seed fund from CNT Tech in April 2022. 

The app garnered 350,000 users from 180 countries after participation in the 2021 Global Challenge program. The participation set the ball rolling for the startup aiding its global expansion spree. Various online exchanges with foreigners from multiple cultures are possible on the app.

Regular innovation provides the startup an edge over its competitors.

With a global pool of travelers in the hundreds of thousands, Tripriend is developing a new business model that will provide advertisers with direct access to foreign customers and innovative advertising products. It has installed new servers worldwide and enhanced its UI/UX to improve user usability. 

Tripriend has a gender balance advantage over other global social matching apps, with a male-to-female ratio of 4:6. The app has a high matching rate, with an average matching rate of 34 percent. In contrast, the other competing app in the category has a matching rate of less than 10 percent.

Tripriend avails elimination of language barriers through translation functions. Despite being produced in Korea, the application is well globalized, with approximately 10 percent of Koreans using it. The startup is actively promoting international expansion and is particularly interested in attracting advertisers and investment.

Tripriend will expand its overseas servers to increase usability and provide access to different languages and localization services to improve user convenience. Tripriend wants to increase its user base in the two significant regions, North America and Europe. 

Currently, the region has a relatively low share. Still, customers here are more willing to pay for the platform than customers in other countries, making them key countries to increase Tripriend services sales in the future.