From left: Questo co-founders Alex Govoreanu and Claudiu Petria. Image: Questo
Questo has raised €300,000 for its mobile app that allows users to explore popular tourist destinations, following clues and solving challenges to learn more about the history of cities.
On Tuesday (7 July), Romanian app developer Questo announced that it has raised €300,000 in funding from its city exploration platform. The funding round was led by Sparking Capital, with participation from Early Game Ventures.
Based in Bucharest, Questo has developed a platform that allows users to go on tours of popular tourist destinations, following clues and solving challenges to learn the stories behind each destination.
In 2019, the start-up was awarded the Disruptive Hospitality award by the UN World Tourism Organisation for its gamified tour solution that is available in 70 cities worldwide.
Questo believes that its solution represents a safer alternative for tour operators in a post-Covid-19 world, by providing safe tours that require no assistance from a guide.
The funding round
Questo plans to use the €300,000 in funding to continue its partnerships with international tour operators and storytellers and to further improve its technology to ensure a fun and safe city exploration experience for users. By the end of 2020, Questo aims to be available in 100 cities.
Alex Govoreanu, co-founder and CEO of Questo, commented: “We’re transforming city exploration into a fun game that’s safe to play on your own. For this, we partner with tour operators and storytellers from all around the world, who are creating their own games.”
Govoreanu said that the start-up’s model is “so scalable” that it could be launched in every city in the world, and that the company plans to take advantage of that. He described cities as the “world’s best playgrounds” which he wants to help users explore, rather than spending holidays sitting indoors.
The start-up has built routes into Questo that aim to help users discover less popular places, while sharing stories crafted by local storytellers.
In 2019, the start-up’s app was used by more than 50,000 people, who collectively walked more than 200,000 kilometres.
