Creating safer travel for POC individuals.
Founder(s) name: Arrey Phillips
Industry Sector: Travel & Tourism Technology
POCAdvisor is a travel platform offering a one-stop solution for people of colour, providing tailored insights, safety ratings, and community-sourced reviews based on lived experiences. Users rate destinations across five pillars: Safety & Racial Climate, Representation, Community Openness, Political Climate, and Cultural Offerings. These reviews are collated to produce an overall rating. Unique filters enable users to view reviews specific to their racial and ethnic background, delivering personalised insights into what travel to specific destinations is like for people like them. Additional features include group travel connections, university inclusivity ratings, and culturally relevant activity recommendations.
I began developing the idea for POCAdvisor in July 2022 after travelling to Australia for my study abroad year, where I suffered racial discrimination in my first week. This experience, along with my time studying and working abroad in countries such as Australia, the USA, and China over the past three years, highlighted a clear need for a platform that offers people of colour more informal, representative reviews about what travel is really like in specific destinations for certain races and ethnicities.
The next phase for POCAdvisor is to move from concept to a fully launched venture. I have built an app prototype and am currently working with a developer to create a clickable prototype, before progressing to full app development. I am also building a social media presence across multiple platforms, transitioning from a personal brand to a business brand, to generate traction and awareness ahead of the app’s launch.
I hope to gain access to Elevate’s mentorship, education and collaborative environment at this pivotal stage. Its network will help me connect with investors, industry professionals and early adopters (including students of colour), enabling me to accelerate POCAdvisor’s growth and impact.
Yes I am seeking investors, and I am part of a fundraising cohort to build connections in order to do so. I plan to raise £50,000 in pre-seed funding by March 2026 to complete full app development, build out key features, and execute a targeted marketing strategy to drive early user acquisition.