Excursiopedia Wins Startup Battle at TechCrunch Moscow

Online, December 26, 2012 (Newswire.com) - - A global social travel marketplace that allows users to connect with private tour operators took top honors at TechCrunch Moscow's Startup Battle on Dec. 10.

The site - www.excursiopedia.com - allows travellers to locate, book and pay private tour guides all over the world. To win, Excursiopedia finished ahead of noted companies like TeamLab, Oh My Stats!, AdEasy and Endorphin.

"TechCrunch Moscow is regarded as Russia's preeminent venue for introducing start-up ventures to the tech community," said Kirill Sermyagin, CEO and one of the founders of Excursiopedia. "The event draws some of the best and brightest tech entrepreneurs in the world, and we're thrilled our product stood out among the other remarkable entries." "We hope to draw people's attention to the content of travel and finally change the way people spend their vocation or free time to more active one".

During the event, 44 startup companies made pitches and demonstrated their offerings. Six finalists from Demo Day competed during the Startup Battle. Participants had to be less than three years old, having raised no more than $3 million investment and able to demonstrate a beta version of the product.

Excursiopedia isn't just a place to look up excursions. Rather, the site offers travellers unique and varied experiences. Jungles tours on an elephant, sailing tours in Paris, food tours of New York City and private photo tours of New Orleans are all among the offerings.

The site allows tour operators to post their service offerings for free and use the site's messaging system to communicate with and confirm clients' arrangements. Travellers submit payment to Excursiopedia before the tour takes place, and the vendor is paid after the tour's conclusion.

The site brokers more than 7,000 tours a day in 900 cities located in 120 countries. Seven languages and nine currencies are available on Excursiopedia. More than 7,000 activities are available including tours for individual travellers, workshops, classes, sporting events, nature excursions, activities for families with children and large group tours.

"Excursiopedia allows travellers to make reservations in advance so they aren't disappointed by sold-out tours once they reach their destination. We also help travellers find experiences and opportunities they probably wouldn't have found on their own," Kirill Sermyagin said.

Excursiopedia maintains offices in Moscow, Munich, Bari and Barcelona.

For more information, please visit www.excursiopedia.com.
###