Sékr, a startup offering a mobile app for outdoor enthusiasts and campers, is launching a new AI tool for planning road trips. The new tool, called Copilot, is available on the startup’s updated website and app, which is used by more than 100,000 users.
Sékr was founded in 2016 with the aim of helping the “van life” community find campsites based on their needs, such as shower facilities, toilets, van parking or free Wi-Fi. The app also allows users to connect with fellow travelers who want to participate in outdoor activities together, such as rock climbing or skiing.
After being acquired by truck company Peace Vans in December 2023, the startup is under new leadership. Sékr and Peace Vans CEO Harley Sitner has been a user of the app for seven years, but had noticed last year that the app had gone dormant. He learned that the startup’s founders were going to pull the plug on the app due to the sudden change in the global fundraising climate at the end of 2022, despite having a strong user base. Sitner, who was a former product manager at Microsoft, was approached to acquire Sékr in November 2023.
After eight months, the startup is now trying to help people better plan trips to their destinations, while updating the app with improved features that stay true to Sékr’s original mission.
With its new AI-powered road trip planner, Sékr combines natural language processing with proprietary data from the community of users who have left reviews and ratings for specific places. Copilot also looks at publicly available data when creating road trip itineraries. The tool leverages OpenAI’s GPT, Meta’s Llama, and more.
“For the millions of people traveling by van, car or RV this summer, Sēkr Copilot will help you skip hours of trip planning to quickly deliver a better itinerary,” Sitner said in a statement. “AI isn’t going to create a panoramic sunset, but it will help you overcome the infamous designer’s block, prepare you for moments of serenity, and connect you to an authentic road trip experience co-created by its incredible community of dedicated users Sekr. ”
You can access Copilot through the new Trip Planning tab on the startup’s website or app. Once users open the tool, they’ll be asked to answer a series of prompts about where they’re going and what they’re looking for. The tool will then provide a trip itinerary that has editable trip legs that include camping destinations, food stops, and outdoor activities.
The idea behind Copilot is to help travelers discover unique places they might not otherwise know about. For example, the tool might encourage travelers to check out a taco truck parked on the side of a dusty road in Baja that users said offers better food than a Denny’s with a 5-star review outside Los Angeles. Or, the tool can encourage users to explore isolated, unmarked areas on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land that overlooks scenic views.
Sékr is available at iOS and Android. The basic features of the app are free. Users can unlock premium features like offline maps, event discount codes, and unlimited messaging and searching for $4.99 per month.
The startup previously received $2.25 million in funding led by Storyteller Overland, with participation from Backstage Capital, Techstars, Ad Astra Ventures, Crescent Ridge Ventures and GoFundMe co-founder Andy Ballester.
