Regional angels investment to help teachers' plan school excursions

When the Regional Angel Investor Network (RAIN) reached out to seasoned entrepreneur Johnny Timbs earlier this year, the support was not only welcome, but respected.

A self-described country boy who was born in Scone and grew up in the Hunter Valley, Johnny says he absolutely loves talking to regional investors, particularly about things that affect the regions.

"The product we work with is very much a regional product and will have impacts on regional areas," said Johnny, co-founder of website EdTripper.

"In essence, it's the Trip Advisor for teachers," he explains. "We take all the content, education programs, all the information attractions make available on their website, pull it together and make it digestible for teachers so they can research, book, manage and do everything all in one place."

EdTripper is Johnny's fourth startup after a career spent working for himself in cafes, restaurants and similar traditional business models.

"The whole concept of a startup was very foreign to me [but] I was super interested in how technology could influence business and people," he said.

As a young dad who had volunteered on many school excursions, the first pairing Johnny researched was education and technology, and how the two could interact better. A 2019 learning app, also called EdTripper, which digitised the existing programs of museums and galleries, was put on ice when they temporarily closed their doors in March 2020.

Johnny ultimately went back to the drawing board, talking to the customers he already had, but also other excursion venues such as aquatic centres.

"Anything that falls outside the four walls of a traditional classroom was something I was really interested in," Johnny said.

"I spoke to a couple of hundred teachers from all across Australia and found that they love the process of going on excursions, but hated the methodology of executing it. I wanted to give teachers the ability to have options and not go to the same thing every year."

Investor members of Regional Angels have invested $33,000 into EdTripper.

"The investment into EdTripper is another great example of RAIN members backing startups that have a positive impact on our regions," RAIN founder Sam Almaliki said.

This article was originally published in the Canberra Times By Linley Wilkie October 20 2023