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Travel2026
Secret Places
A city's best places are the ones nobody lists.
An iOS guide to lesser-known city spots — bars, rooftops, viewpoints — built on open map data. The description and area are free; a purchase reveals the exact address. The product is on pause.
(01) Problem
Every city keeps its best places to itself. Guides and maps show the same spots, while the real finds pass by word of mouth. Travellers and locals want something new but don't know where to look.
(02) Solution
Secret Places is a catalogue of lesser-known spots built from OpenStreetMap open data. Before purchase you see only the description and a rough area. After purchase — the exact address, directions and opening hours where known. The next step is our own editing and photography instead of automatic descriptions.
(03) How it works
- 01
Pick a city — or the app detects where you are.
- 02
Browse teasers for free: what the place is, the best time, how crowded.
- 03
Sign in with Apple when you want to unlock.
- 04
Buy a place, a route or a pass for the whole city.
- 05
The server verifies the purchase with Apple and unlocks the full guide — available offline and on all devices.
(04) Features
Map
Locked places as a ~1 km area, unlocked ones as an exact pin with directions.
Routes
Bar crawls and night routes: one purchase unlocks every stop.
City pass
One purchase — every paid place in a city.
What's on
Events in Ukrainian cities, refreshed every 6 hours.
My Secrets
Unlocked, saved, visited — with offline access.
(05) Business model
One-time App Store purchases, no subscription or ads. Free places attract users, paid ones monetise.
| Single place | $0.99 | Exact address, directions, tips |
|---|---|---|
| Route | $2.99–3.99 | Every stop of a Kyiv night route |
| City pass | $4.99 | Every paid place in a city |
| Subscription, paid collections | — | Next stage hypothesis |
(06) Status
Apple did not approve version 1.0 (October 2026). The product is on pause: automatic place import is switched off, and we plan our own content editing before returning to the App Store. Website: secretplaces.7am.digital.
17cities: 7 in Ukraine, 10 in Europe
2languages: UA, EN
(07) Market
City tourism is at record levels: 793M international arrivals to Europe in 2025. Experiences are the fastest-scaling part of travel: GetYourGuide reached ~€1B in revenue. Younger travellers avoid crowds and look for lesser-known places.
793Minternational arrivals to Europe, 2025
702Marrivals to the world's top 100 cities, 2025
~€1BGetYourGuide annual revenue
50%+of Gen Z avoid tourist hotspots
Competitors
Atlas Obscura (15K+ odd places), Spotted by Locals (paid guides by locals), GetYourGuide (experiences marketplace), Culture Trip, plus Google Maps and TikTok as the free default. Secret Places differs because secrets stay secret: the exact spot unlocks only after purchase, so places don't get overrun, and a purchase costs less than a coffee.
(08) Technology
- Server-side privacy: a paid place's exact address never leaves the database until the purchase is verified. Not even a raw API request can get it.
- Only the server records purchases, after checking Apple's signature.
- A new city is added with an OpenStreetMap import tool.
- Swift / SwiftUI, MapKit, StoreKit 2, Sign in with Apple; Supabase, PostgreSQL + PostGIS.
(09) Roadmap
| Oct 2026 | 17 cities, iOS 1.0; not approved by Apple, product paused | ■ Done |
|---|---|---|
| Next | Own editing and photography, return to the App Store | □ |
| Next | Paid collections and a subscription | □ |
| Next | AI concierge and personal recommendations | □ |
| Next | Creator submissions with moderation, push notifications, new cities | □ |
(10) Screens
(11) Round
€60kround size
9 morunway
The product is paused. Raising €60k for 9 months to relaunch it: our own editorial content instead of automatic import, a return to the App Store and a test of whether travellers pay for places.
Pre-seed, SAFE
Use of funds
| Editorial & photosLocal writers check and describe places | 45% | |
|---|---|---|
| City marketingKyiv, Lviv, Warsaw, Berlin, Lisbon | 25% | |
| Release & ASO | 15% | |
| Contingency | 15% |
What it delivers (targets)
500verified places
5launch cities
3kpurchases
1App Store return
What's next
If purchases confirm demand — a subscription, paid collections and new cities; if not, we close the product with no further spend.
Want to know more about this product? We'll send metrics, the financial model and a demo.