26th August 2024

Travelling through Western Europe on foot or by bike

Fred Giuliani spent his whole career in IT before co-founding a start-up in Luxembourg. With his LetzTrail app, he hasn’t chosen to come to rest, but rather to cover the miles on foot or by bike with his smartphone to guide him. In this article, he tells us about his app and what inspired him to embark on this project. Happy reading!

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Fred introduces himself

Hi, my name is Fred. When I finished university, my first employer has been Spuerkeess. I spent 27 years of my professional career working in the IT department. That was also when my interest in sport began. In the early 2000s, Spuerkeess installed changing rooms and a gym. That meant that my colleagues and I could go mountain biking during our lunch break. Eventually, mountain biking gave way to running. And that encouraged me to run my very first marathon in 2014. From there, I got into triathlon, a passion shared with my friend Philippe Lassine.

Spuerkeess was my first employer and will always have a special place in my heart. I have been privileged to work with competent and motivated people. Back then, the bank's slogan was “Great Place to Work”, and that still holds true.
Fred Giuliani

The idea of setting up a business

The idea behind LetzTrail came from two cyclist friends: Philippe Lassine and Fred Giuliani were cycling through France and found themselves left to their own devices. Having cycled up Mont Ventoux, the two cycling, hiking, running and triathlon enthusiasts identified a need. They had a paper version of their trail map, but the lack of GPX file was something they felt acutely. And even leaving aside the GPX file, they had no way of easily finding shops and points of interest around their route. They didn't have addresses for any nearby bike stores if they ran into problems, they didn't know where the restaurant at the top was or what time it was open, etc. So from this need emerged an extremely practical, comprehensive application to make all their adventures – and those of other sporty types – a lot more fun.

LetzTrail – a digital companion for all your runs and bike rides

Various levels of difficulty

The application ranks routes by level of difficulty. That means users can filter on this criterion when searching. And it’s supported by Garmin, Wahoo and Polar, so all athletes can record and share their daily sports session or route on the platform.

Community focused

LetzTrail is a social open-air activity app. So, you can use it to create outings for friends on foot or by bike, as well as sharing new routes on the platform, adding comments, etc. That way, other users of the platform will have access to them and can also select routes that they want to follow.

So far, we have listed – with the help of the whole community – more than 70,000 routes (some 5 million km) in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Luxembourg.

Not just sport

It's not just an app for listing routes. You can also use it to find points of interest that you might need when you are out and about on foot or on your bike. For example, you'll find nearby bike shops, repair stations for little mechanical problems, places where you can eat, playgrounds, panoramas, picnic sites, etc. After all, you'll definitely need to reward your efforts!

Free for users

The app is available in four languages (French, German, English and Dutch), and can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store. It's completely free for users. The business model is quite simple: it's free for end users, but stores and companies have to pay if they want to feature and be visible in the app.

Made in Luxembourg

It may have been designed in Luxembourg, but the services provided by the app go way beyond its borders. Users can use it for their daily sports activities, as well as when they are holidaying in the mountains, for example.

Join the LetzTrail community

Fred’s advice to future entrepreneurs

“Trau dech” Make your dream come true, otherwise you will regret it one day.

“Don’t fall in love with the solution but with the problem”. Take your time and make sure you understand what problem your idea is addressing. Does it really solve a problem?

“Get feedback”. Don't hide behind the fact that your product is not yet finished. Present it to your future clients and ask them what they think. Then, incorporate their opinion into the solution.

Things never happen as quickly as people think. It will take you twice as long as you think to develop your project. Set aside the finances you'll need to cover this period.

Present your project at LuxInnovation. They can point you in the direction of whatever aid is available.

Join an incubator. Working in an environment with other start-ups will provide you with collaborative opportunities.

Fred and his bank

The company has been funded by our own capital contribution. Then, with the help of LuxInnovation, we applied to the Ministry of Economic Affairs for a ‘Research and Development’ grant, which was approved mid-2023.