Regional Angels Invest in EdTripper to Help Teachers Plan School Excursions

EdTripper is Johnny's fourth startup after a career spent working for himself owning cafes, restaurants and similar traditional businesses. "The whole concept of a startup was very foreign to me [but] I was super interested in how technology could influence business and people", he said. As a young dad who had volunteered on many school excursions, the first pairing Johnny researched was education and technology, and how the two could interact better.

A 2019 learning app, also called EdTripper, which digitised the existing programs of museums and galleries, was put on ice when they temporarily closed their doors in March 2020. Johnny ultimately went back to the drawing board, talking to the customers he already had, but also other excursion venues such as aquatic centres. "Anything that falls outside the four walls of a traditional classroom was something I was really interested in," Johnny said.

"I spoke to over two hundred teachers from all across Australia and found that they love going on excursions, but hated the process of finding and booking them. I wanted to give teachers options, convenience and not feel like they had to go to the same thing every year."

"In essence, it's Tripadvisor for teachers," he explains. "We take all the content, education programs and information that attractions make available on their website, pull it together and make it digestible for teachers, so they can research, book, manage and do everything all in one place."

Investor members of Regional Angels have invested $33,000 into EdTripper. "The investment into EdTripper is another great example of RAIN members backing startups that have a positive impact on our regions," RAIN founder Sam Almaliki said.

"The product we've created is very much a regional product and will have positive impacts on regional areas."

This article was originally published in the Canberra Times By Linley Wilkie October 20 2023