These days new sharing economy travel companies launch every week, and I sometimes discover established businesses that I had missed. All of these get added to my spreadsheet of sharing economy travel services. Here’s the summary for August and September (slow months), along with interesting news about existing companies.
Konverti – a new peer to peer currency exchange service run through a mobile app. The app isn’t yet available, but the website is up and running. When launched Konverti will facilitate connecting people with extra foreign currency with those who need that currency. Konverti publishes current Forex rates to facilitate trades, and each exchange includes a Konverti fee (<2%). People using this platform are free to negotiate whatever rates they like to better facilitate trades.
Fat Lama – p2p gear rental in the UK. recently launched a beta version of their website. Not just for adventure gear, but lots of useful stuff for travel in the mix.
TalkTalkbnb – trade language practice for lodging around the world. Founded in 2016.
Trapeer – a new platform for any services desired by travelers. Unlike typical peer-to-peer travel sites that have listings from locals offering services, this ambitious project is offering people the opportunity to request whatever they want for their travels: rides, tours, accommodations, etc. And then locals can bid on these services. Users can sign up as either a traveler (and post requests) or a service provider (and bid on requests). This seems likely to attract small businesses more than direct peer-to-peer connections, but it will be interesting to see how Trapeer develops. They’ve just opened up early registration.
ViaHero – p2p travel planning and recommendations from a local. Currently available in Cuba, Iceland and Japan. Launched in 2016.
Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental marketplace raised $92 million in funding and is in the process of acquiring the German peer-to-peer car sharing service Croove.
VizEat, a European peer-to-peer dining platform, has acquired EatWith, a U.S.-based social dining business.