When Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged Explurger during the G20 Summit in 2025, it marked a defining moment in our journey — a homegrown travel platform being recognised on one of the world’s most influential stages. An app built to get people off their screens had just made it to the biggest screen in the country. That’s a good summary of the last four years — unexpected, earned, and very much real.
Explurger launched on June 7, 2022, with one straightforward idea: social media should make you go out, not stay in. Four years later, that idea has turned into a community of 21 million+ explorers across 75+ countries, 100+ global brand partners, and billions of travel stories posted by real people on real trips. Here’s how we got here.
When Jitin Bhatia and Sonu Sood — two friends who shared a deep love for travel — sat down to build Explurger, the problem was obvious. Every major social media platform was built to maximise the time you spend on it. The more you scrolled, the better it worked — for them. Travel had become content. Exploration had become performance. People were saving destinations to wishlists they’d never open and watching reels of places they’d never visit.
Explurger was built as a direct counter to that. Every feature on the platform is designed to push you toward the real world, not keep you away from it. Explurge-In lets you check in at real places and leave tips for whoever comes next. Pin Message drops a note that can only be unlocked at a specific physical location. The Automatic Travelogue builds your trip diary as you move, without you having to think about it. The Bucket List is there to be crossed off, not just added to. None of this works unless you actually go somewhere, and that’s the whole point.
Four Years of Numbers That Matter
The growth over four years has been consistent and global. Explurger now has 21 million+ users across 75+ countries, with billions of travel stories shared on the platform. Plus 100s of global brands — including EaseMyTrip, Thailand Tourism, Rapido, Nasher Miles, Cleartrip, and The Lalit and many more — have partnered with Explurger not just for campaigns but to build a genuine presence within a community that is actively out in the world. Campaigns on the platform have delivered 3x higher click-through rates and 4x better engagement than industry averages, because the audience here isn’t passively scrolling — they’re planning their next move.
The brand partnerships reflect something important: Explurger isn’t just an app anymore. It’s an ecosystem that connects travellers, creators, and brands in a way that only works because the community is real and engaged.
The On-Ground Events: Where It Gets Real
Numbers on a screen are one thing. What happens on the ground is another. Over the past four years, Explurger has run Creator Connects and Rider Connects across India — events where members of the community show up in person, meet fellow explorers they’d only known through the app, collect their Explurger goodies, and spend time in places worth actually being in. In Manali, the Creator Connect with Moustache Group drew travel creators together for a high-engagement day of storytelling and community building in the mountains. In Tripura, the team partnered with the Agartala Adventure Club to bring together adventure enthusiasts, local creators, and culture-first travellers for an event that celebrated exploration in a part of India that doesn’t always make it into mainstream travel conversations. People registered in large numbers, showed up, and left wanting to plan their next trip. That’s the clearest sign a platform is working.
Beyond its own events, Explurger has served as the official social media partner for some of the country’s most significant gatherings. At the MahaKumbh Creator Lounge, run in partnership with Aaj Tak, thousands of creators documented one of the largest human gatherings on earth through the platform. At the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland, Explurger was on the ground for one of India’s most vibrant cultural events. India Bike Week gave the platform its entry into the riding community. The Hyderabad Soldierathon — a unique event where civilians and soldiers ran side by side to honour India’s armed forces — used Explurger as its official social media partner to connect participants and document the experience. The Elan Group Marathon brought runners together through real-world social engagement powered by the platform. NDTV Yuva and TV9’s World Travel Festival added further reach and media visibility.
Across all of these, the pattern is the same: Explurger shows up where people are already moving, and the community trusts the platform to be part of that experience.
Features That Turn Travel Into Experiences
What truly sets Explurger apart is that every feature is designed to encourage real-world exploration. The platform’s unique Explurge-In feature allows users to check in at destinations, share tips, and help fellow travellers discover hidden gems. Automatic Travelogue seamlessly creates a digital travel diary by documenting journeys as they happen, making it easy to preserve memories without extra effort. With Bucket List, travellers can save dream destinations and track their adventures as they tick them off. Pin Message adds a layer of discovery by allowing users to leave virtual notes that can only be unlocked at specific locations. The platform also rewards exploration through its gamified travel ecosystem, where users earn points and achievements for travelling, engaging, and sharing authentic experiences. More recently, the addition of Nivu, Explurger’s AI-powered travel assistant, has made trip planning and exploration even smarter by providing personalised recommendations, local insights, weather updates, and travel guidance in real time. Together, these features transform social media from a passive scrolling experience into an active invitation to explore the world.
More Than an App: Building a Travel Movement
What makes Explurger different isn’t just the technology or the features — it’s the mindset it has helped create. In a world where social media often rewards appearance over experience, Explurger has quietly built a culture that celebrates doing over scrolling.
Over the last four years, millions of people have used the platform not just to share where they’ve been, but to discover where they could go next. Friendships have started through shared travel interests. Solo travellers have found communities. Hidden destinations have found new audiences. Local businesses, tourism boards, creators, and travellers have all become part of the same ecosystem driven by a common passion for exploration.
The platform’s growth has coincided with a major shift in global travel behaviour. People are increasingly seeking authentic experiences, meaningful connections, and stories worth living rather than simply posting. Explurger has been at the centre of that shift, encouraging users to step outside their comfort zones, explore new cultures, support local communities, and create memories that last far longer than a viral post.
The impact is visible not only in numbers but in the countless stories shared by the community. Stories of first solo trips. First international adventures. Weekend road trips that became lifelong memories. Mountains climbed, beaches discovered, cultures experienced, and friendships formed. Every pin dropped, every travelogue created, and every bucket-list destination crossed off represents a real-world experience that might not have happened otherwise.
What’s Next: The Platform Keeps Building
Earlier this year, Explurger launched Nivu, an AI travel assistant built directly into the app. Nivu gives users real-time travel advice, local insights, weather updates, and translation support as they explore. It’s a natural extension of what Explurger has always been about — making it easier and more rewarding to be out in the world. The platform that started by asking people to put their phones down is now making sure that when they do pick them up, it’s to do something useful with them.
Four Years In, The Work Continues
Explurger turns four, having done what it set out to do: build a social platform that genuinely gets people out. The community of 21 million+ explorers is proof that there was always an appetite for this — people wanted a reason to travel more, connect with others who were doing the same, and document their lives in a way that felt real. Explurger gave them that, and the community gave it back tenfold.
The map is still mostly unexplored. There are more cities to host events in, more creators to bring into the community, more destinations to check into, and more stories to tell. Year five starts now.
If you’re not on Explurger yet, download the app and join 21 million explorers already out there. And if this piece resonated, share it — someone you know is overdue for an adventure.
Explurger. Get Out, Get Social.
