For expats, foreign exchange students, backpackers, or retirees with an itch to travel, there is always something that ends up being missed from home or from one of many ‘homes’ over time.
It could be your favorite coffee, lip balm, a certain snack or condiment, garlic vodka (
yes, that’s right), or a book. When you’re on the other side of the world, it can be tough.
To satisfy that craving for those things not easily found, a startup called
Ouibring is offering a matchmaking service for people who are already travelling about with a little spare room in their luggage who are willing to fetch desired items for a small fee.
Ouibring outlines their service for Buyers and Bringers as having two models: free and premium.
‘Free’ is when the two people agree on the transaction between themselves, including the fee, meet at a location they chose together, and exchange exact-change-cash for the item requested.
‘Premium’ works a little differently and is good for larger value – like iPhones. Premium model users have the Buyer prepay Ouibring as an intermediary, then Ouibring releases the money to the Bringer once the delivery is complete. No one has to carry large amounts of cash this way, and the Bringer is assured that the Buyer has the money before the Bringer buys the item.
Co-Founder and CEO at Ouibring, Joel Gordon
Co-Founder at Ouibring, Andrew Crosio
For anyone who has felt the stress of living in another part of the world, or maybe just in another part of the same country – but it feels like a million miles away – the soothing arrival of a little something from home really does feel good.
Ouibring and their Bringers realize this and claim to “bring a little happiness” to the buyers.
The co-founders of Ouibring can relate, as the two are each longterm expats – each living in 5-10 countries over the last 20 years.
Co-founders Joel Gordon and Andrew Crosio met working at a global online travel company in Thailand, moved to Europe, and worked with Startup Yard to bring Ouibring into reality. To this day, they continue their expat life, as Joel is Australian/Brit and works from Hungary, while Andrew is Australian/Italian and works from Prague and Bangkok.
Startup Yard, the leading tech startup seed accelerator in Prague, was founded in 2011 and is taking applications from promising startups in Central Europe for “Batch 9”, until January 31, 2018, for the program to run from March 26 to June 24 in 2018.
With a record of having helped 51 companies in all, 19 businesses to raise investments, 5 startups to get acquired, and a grand total of € 6,145,875 in total investments, Startup Yard has proven their mettle over the past 7 years, including with this alumnus, Ouibring.
