Armenia Startup Academy graduates: Virtlo

In this column Itel.am presents the fourth batch of Armenia Startup Academy graduates.

Virtlo is a mobile travel app designed to find any place, event or shop via the phone camera. Organizations can use the app to advertise discounts, events or promotions.

The app is available in App Store. It targets tourists, as well as people who don’t know the city well or find themselves in a crowded part and want to find a place quickly.

The startup was founded by Khachatur Badalyan, now the team leader, expert from France Armen Mnatzakanian, who is responsible for business development, and David Torosyan, the technical director. The startup also has a 5-strong team of developers.

David Torosyan has told Itel.am that since its launch 5 months ago, the IOS version of the app has been used in over 120 countries and featured by Product Hunt. 25-30% of the people who download the app become active users.

“Virtlo stands out by the speed it finds the necessary place. Just one click and the user can see the places and events happening nearby. The app is also easy to use and armed with huge amounts of data. You can access it from anywhere, even without internet connection, which is especially important for tourists,” he said.

According to the Virtlo team, Armenia Startup Academy’s accelerator enabled them to gain important basic knowledge, including the concept of startup ecosystem and vision, mechanisms required for entering into the global market, and potential challenges.

“The meetings with founders of startups that have proven themselves in the global market were important as well, and very motivating,” noted David Torosyan.

Virtlo plans to launch the app versions for Android and Apple Watch, cooperate with global tourism leader Viator (TripAdvisor) under the reached agreement, work actively on the marketing side in Armenia and France, and cooperate within WCIT 2019.

Narine Daneghyan