AirTrackBot
About the Company
AirTrack is a Telegram-based chatbot founded by Niki Kravchuk, who has experience in various travel startups. The company started in November 2017, operating from Kyiv, Ukraine, with no additional employees. AirTrack provides a service that tracks flight prices and sends notifications to users, leveraging Kravchuk's previous experience and the Kiwi.com API to create a global product.
Idea Behind Company
The concept for AirTrack emerged from Kravchuk's personal frustration with the manual process of tracking flight prices. Previous startup attempts, including a multimodal travel search engine and a sports event search engine, had failed, but they provided valuable experience. Recognizing the growing potential of chatbots in 2017, Kravchuk decided to build a tool that would automate flight price tracking, benefiting users who faced similar challenges.
Creating the Company
In developing AirTrack, Kravchuk focused on a rapid launch to test the idea. Initially, the bot tracked flights for European low-cost airlines using the Kiwi.com API, which allowed for a broader, global reach. The first version was simple and lacked some features, but it successfully garnered attention. The early success was driven by media coverage and viral interest, particularly in Ukraine.
Launching the Business
The launch strategy involved placing AirTrack in chatbot catalogs and leveraging press coverage. Kravchuk used his journalism background to pitch the product to tech media, leading to widespread coverage and a rapid user base expansion. Platforms like Product Hunt, Reddit, and Indie Hackers were also utilized to reach diverse audiences, helping to boost user acquisition to 10,000 within the first week.
Earnings
AirTrack now has over 1 million subscribers, with more than 450,000 flight searches monthly and around 1.5 million price alerts sent each month. The bot generates approximately $7,000 in revenue per month. Despite a significant revenue drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kravchuk remains focused on improving user retention, exploring new markets, and considering additional revenue streams such as sponsorships.
