Hello, I’m Ryan Prazeres, co-founder of OneBoard, and here’s my story about how OneBoard came about.

Inception and Early Days

OneBoard is a Covid baby. It was never supposed to be its own company. In 2021, I owned and operated Piggy Hostels, a chain of hostels. At the time, which is February 2021, I wanted to build AR tech with a concierge app for Piggy Hostels and pivot to a tech-based model for my growing hostel chain. But when Covid happened, I quickly came to the realisation that scaling for the future would be extremely difficult until it was tech-enabled.

I took a flight to Bangalore after setting up meetings with 2 friends and stayed in Bangalore for 3 nights. I initially met Dwarak (whom I had met and acquired a small hostel he was running in Varkala to be part of Piggy), who had given me great ideas and suggestions as he was working on his own tech company, and since he had in-depth knowledge of hostels by running the same for two years.

Next, I went and met Ashrith (again someone I encountered during Piggy as he helped me set up a Wi-Fi management system across my hostels), a back-end developer who has been building tech. The same night, I met with Ashrith in his basement office, and we were figuring out how I could develop an app for Piggy. The idea was simple: an AR mascot acting as a concierge and also selling experiences.

The Power of Coffee

After a lot of coffee, food, and lots and lots of gin, we quickly concluded that there is a big market for this, and the hostel experience space is the right niche to enter.

Over the next two days, we met more, drank lots of beer, and fine-tuned a basic idea to test out. After three days, I returned to Goa, and we continued to discuss and chat and decided that we should co-found a new venture, and Ashrith would come on board as CTO.

In the meanwhile, I had decided that at this point, I would want to find someone as passionate about the hostel space I was and hand over Piggy Hostels, a three-year-old baby to them. After 3 months of searching, I found a group of 4 entrepreneurs from Pune who were looking to expand pan-India, and Piggy’s national footprint appealed to them. After much talk, they acquired Piggy, but that’s a long story to tell in the future.

By the following month, a.k.a. March, Ashrith flew down to Goa, and we planned a one-week pilot to start off with. Whiteboard in hand, Ashrith and I, along with Saurabh, who headed content for my Piggy team, began work. Within two days, we had built and began testing at the Calangute hostel I was running. We had some initial success in the initial phase and came up with an MVP.

Over the next 2 months, we continued to pilot and test across other Piggy Hostels before the acquisition was completed. In June 2021, we incorporated and were off to the races.

With Co-founder and CTO Shreyansh Doshi and Lyndon J. Pinto who handles Content and Marketing

Expanding Horizons

Our journey galloped forward with the intent of offering our product as a SaaS platform to hostels, allowing them to manage their experiences efficiently. During the months of June and July, I dedicated my efforts to contacting hostels across the country and presenting our solution. The response was generally positive, but we soon recognised a limitation in the number of nationwide hostels.

This realisation led us to a pivotal decision – expanding our reach to encompass hotels and guest houses. The revelation was immediate – the potential market size had exponentially grown. Goa alone housed more than 5,000 accommodation providers, compared to 100 hostels. With our focus narrowed to Goa, we pressed on.

The Arrival of Fresh Enthusiasm

Pursuing this new venture, I reached out to Ray Vaz, a longtime friend and industry expert. In August 2021, he joined our ranks, and our growth experienced a meteoric rise.

Amidst these developments, another realisation dawned upon us. Unlike hostels, hotels were less inclined to curate and integrate experiences. This prompted a transformation in our model. We transitioned to onboarding experience providers, instituting a commission structure for sales and sharing those earnings with the hotels that facilitated the bookings. QR codes adorned every room in the hotels, transforming spaces into gateways to adventures.

Our team burgeoned, and we scaled up, securing pre-seed funding from Build3 startup studio in December 2021. However, new challenges arose—while user engagement with the boards was robust, bookings were lagging. In response, we launched a B2C initiative in January to exert more significant influence over purchasing decisions, and it began to yield results.

Yet, the path forward was not without hurdles. Over the following months, internal conflicts emerged, and by March 2022, Ashrith departed from the company. This juncture prompted introspection. We regrouped, elected to take a brief pause, and embarked on a journey to rebuild and reinvigorate our mission.

Upskilling and Overcoming Challenges

As a person with a substantial engineering background who left college to enter business school, my technical prowess was limited—I had basic knowledge of coding languages like HTML, CSS, and C++ but not JavaScript. I immersed myself in learning for two months, dedicating a minimum of eight hours each day. Concurrently, I managed to keep our servers operational, even restarting them from a ferry while participating in an experience.

By June 2022, Ray introduced me to Nikhil, his cousin and a proficient DevOps engineer, and Hansel, a backend developer. Both were willing to contribute during their nights, balancing their commitment with full-time jobs. Financial constraints prompted us to proceed gradually. Over the next two months, we toiled during the nights, reconstructing everything from scratch to produce a stable build.

Simultaneously, our daytime operations maintained momentum as we worked towards smaller goals and upheld relationships with our partners. Ray officially joined as a co-founder, unrelenting in his dedication even as the technology experienced fluctuations. We outsourced front-end development to a local IT company, resulting in the launch of our provider app’s first version in the market.

By then, I had upskilled myself extensively in JavaScript, AWS, and Figma. Overseeing logic building and development closely, I ensured that our journey, though gradual, was unwavering.

Growth and Refinement

In October 2022, during one of our bi-weekly All Hands meetings, our investors mentioned a promising tech enthusiast named Shreyansh. Intrigued, I swiftly reached out, setting up a call that would soon change the course of OneBoard's journey.

Our initial discussions went really well. There was so much alignment, and we had great, open, and transparent conversations. What was initially intended as a part-time collaboration quickly evolved into a full-time commitment and co-founder role.

Before Shreyansh joined our ranks, progress was steady, but somewhat measured. However, with his arrival, the pace transformed dramatically. We boldly decided to rebuild from the ground up, shedding any excess baggage. Shreyansh led the charge, assembling a team of front-end engineers. At the start of March 2023, Lyndon J. Pinto joined us to assist with content, and by the end of March, after just four months of intense web development, we had four live products to show for our hard work.

In April 2023, we launched our B2C platform with over 200 experiences available across Goa. As of September 2023, we have over 740 experiences on our platform and are growing.

When OneBoard came to life, it wasn't just about launching another platform; it was about building connections and forging experiences. It all began during my Piggy days when boards of experiences adorned our office walls. Over time, they multiplied, scattered everywhere, until we realised one board is all you need. And so, OneBoard was born, a dynamic digital QR, a canvas for providers to showcase their offerings, and a seamless journey for adventurers seeking experiences.

With Co-founder and CBDO Ray Vaz and Lyndon at the Goa International Travel Mart (GITM) 2024.

Our Mission

Our mission is twofold. First, we ensure your safety by vetting providers, turning our platform into a secure haven. Any serious misconduct results in immediate blacklisting, safeguarding your trust and well-being.

Second, we're driven to combat scams and enhance transparency. It's disheartening to see how easily people fall victim to scams, especially in this digital age. We believe in accountability and doing things the right way.

We're also passionate about feedback. For this reason, OneBoard users can leave reviews, share their experiences, and guide others on what to expect. Your words have the power to shape the future.

Empowering Providers

Providers are the heart of OneBoard. We're committed to their growth and professionalism. With our user-friendly app, they have all the tools at their fingertips, including real-time updates and a touch of automation that adds a professional touch to their services. No need for costly websites that tie them down. OneBoard simplifies their journey, putting them online in minutes. Let them focus on what they do best, and we'll take care of the rest.

Our platform is more than just a marketplace; it's a brand-building space. We're a dedicated local startup, empowering local providers and standing by them every step of the way.

We help travellers find and book authentic and quality tours and activities in Goa

At OneBoard, passion drives us, purpose guides us, and together, we're changing the game of experiences, one adventure at a time.

To learn more about OneBoard, click here.

The Oneboard Story - A Goan Start-up's Adventure

The Oneboard Story - A Goan Start-up's Adventure