An app that helps individuals meet other like-minded travelers isn’t new to the travel industry but a swipe and chat feature similar to Tinder’s is. OfftheGrid founder, 25-year-old Ethan Serbantes identified this gap in the market and took the opportunity to jump on it.

Launched September 9th on the App Store and Google Play, OfftheGrid allows users to share photo and video content of their travel experiences, post about upcoming trips, stay in the know about new destinations, and arrange in-person meet-ups with other wanderlusters. 

Similar in ways to Tinder, the app has users swipe and chat with others that share their same travel interests. Users can like, comment, and bookmark photos of the people they follow. It also features a “Discover” tab to find new people to follow, a detailed “Trips” tab to outline and share future travel plans with others you’re interested in meeting up with; and a “Explore” tab with an interactive map showing trending content from places on the map.

Serbantes found that research online for upcoming travel trips could be time-consuming and sometimes there wasn’t enough detailed information to grab from. With OfftheGrid, his goal was to create a platform where people deeply interested in travel could use the app for both information and new worldly connections. 

Safety being a top priority, the app permits users to verify email, phone number, and Facebook account to ensure people’s indignities. Their next steps are working on implementing a photo identification API and subscription models.