Cool Cousin is a travel app and site that virtually connects you with locals for recommendations and tips in cities like Berlin, London, and now New York City.

By Sophia Stuart

It was one of those really good inbox moments: an invitation to visit Moscow to cover an emerging technology conference next summer. I went online to plot how to get the most from my trip: the people, places, and things to see. Sadly, that’s where I became overwhelmed by endless generic “Top 10 Tips” lists.

I almost shut down my laptop, but then I stumbled on Cool Cousin, a travel app and site that virtually connects you with locals for recommendations and tips, or “the friend you wish you had at your next travel destination.”

Here’s how it works: Download the iOS app (Android is in the works), pick a city, and scroll through the profiles of “cousins” (in-the-know expat-residents, students and/or locals who love where they live) to see who’s on your wavelength when it comes to what to do and where to hang out. Add a cousin or two with a tap, and you’ll get access to their map of spots to check out. It’s a ready-made itinerary from a kindred spirit rather than tired tourist-trap tips.

It’s still early days, but some of the cousins have more time on their hands than others and are willing to communicate through the in-app messaging service to answer questions such as, “I’ve got a 9-hour layover in Berlin—what’s happening this weekend?” or, “I love cafes, bookshops, and art-house cinemas, in no particular order, and I’ll be in London next month for 10 days — ideas please!”

The company started in April 2015 and has a full-time staff of 13 people in Tel Aviv, thanks to a mix of investment from friends and family, the Elevator Fund, and a bunch of private angel investors. It now has 300 cousins — the majority of whom are in London — though it also has a smaller presence in cities including Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Rio, and Rome.

Now Cool Cousin is ready to conquer the U.S.

The company has five co-founders — CTO Gil Azrielant, COO Itamar Weizman, CPO Shachar Cotani, CMO Nadav Saadia, and CEO Itay Nagler . PCMag spoke with Nagler on the phone from Tel Aviv.

Cool Cousin staff

PCMag: First question—are any of your co-founders actual cousins?

Itay Nagler: (Laughs) Ah, no. We’re not. No family relation. Cousins, for us, is a term of affection for like-minded people; someone that you trust enough to ask their advice.

How did you all meet?

Well, [CMO] Nadav and I have been friends since high school, and also business partners for more than 10 years in a few different digital ventures. The five of us were working together on a political campaign almost two years ago here in Israel. We saw that we were an efficient team and that we brought the best out of one another, we wanted to keep collaborating, and decided to channel it into our longtime dream that developed into Cool Cousin.

What was the inspiration behind Cool Cousin?

My wife, Roni. She is so open and curious that, every time we went on a trip, she’d approach cool looking locals and ask them for recommendations. Most people wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to strangers, so Cool Cousin is a way to build connections between travellers and like-minded locals, giving people the ability to tap into someone else’s mind and gain indepth knowledge on their city.

What are you looking for in a Cool Cousin?

We’re looking for people who have a passion for their city and are willing to meet our content standards: For example, each map should have at least 25 spots and at least 15 words of personal recommendation for each spot. We also want cousins to be up on local events, because users will ask you what’s happening this weekend, as well as eager to engage online and be helpful to the community.

Do they act as guides in real life?

No, not at all. It’s not a service about meeting up in real life; the platform wasn’t built for that. Everyone is hacking their way into exploring the world, via Instagram, using Airbnb, but we saw a real opportunity in providing fantastic content. We want to facilitate conversation about cities so people can get the most out of their travel experiences.

Can anyone be a Cool Cousin, and do they get paid?

People apply online, and we go through all the applications carefully. Right now, we don’t pay our Cool Cousins; it’s more about cultural currency and sharing what they love about where they live/work. Having said that, they are our biggest assets, and we hope they can be well compensated in the future.

VC investment usually denotes a tech play with some smart machine intelligence going on.

We have a great tech platform, and we are using machine intelligence, but the tech is a way of bringing back human connection. Everyone else seems to be going the opposite way—talking about automating personalization, using anonymous bots, and so on. We’re not spying on users or secretly influencing them to drive them to new, trendy places; not at all. It’s about connecting people who love to travel with Cool Cousins who love their city.

How will the VCs get their return, then?

Right now, we’re building up the content and community. We need to get to a few milestones with critical growth in both areas before we start testing monetization. Having said that, we do see the potential for premium services in the future, as well as some interesting partnership opportunities like the experiment we’re doing right now in Italy with the Carnival of Venice. We’re trying out some ideas with the Festival committee to provide value from our newest Cousins there — including artists, designers — people who really know Venice from a local perspective.

Final question: What’s next?

We [launched] in the U.S. on March 6, starting in New York, with about 40 Cousins. Usually, we recruit a local community manager who helps us map the city first and sift through applications. But Cool Cousin has spread through the creative communities, and half of our new NYC cousins approached us directly via our site.

Read more: “These Quirky, Futuristic Hotels Are Taking on Airbnb”