OpenOut - Bangalore’s Solution To Mundane Weekend Plans

Few things excite the world more about the startup ecosystem than its ability to disrupt life as we know it. As new companies reconfigure our everyday across multiple industries, it seems like there’s nowhere left to go yet one Bengaluru-based company is proving that where there’s human culture, there’s a place to innovate. Determined to change and improve our idea of ‘stepping out,’ Open Out promises to offer meaningful tailor-made experiences to all those who are sick of the same ol’ same ol’. For Bengaluru in particular, the need for such a concept was immense.

Unfortunately for the metropolis, despite having once been voted the world’s ‘most dynamic city’ unfortunately boasts of the infamous, it’s also been in the headline for their ‘Cinderella’ deadline just as much. Forcing people back to bed by midnight has ensured a lack of opportunity, and it’s exactly this gap which former marketing executive, Arun Rafi, wanted to close.

The idea was borne out of the fact that our weekly ‘breakaways’ from our mundane professional lives themselves turned pedestrian at best with only a certain number of things to do in the city. OpenOut provides a platform on which anybody can host or attend specially curated home experiences. Speaking to Homegrown about the venture Arun tells us, “we used to go to bars, restaurants, cafes, theatres and other entertainment places too. Somehow the experiences we derived were more or less the same every time. We had the money to spend, we wanted to do new things, something unique and different but we ended up with what I call as the SAME problem every time, which was going out to the same place, meeting the same people and pretty much the same things to do. That’s when the concept of home hosted social experiences came into life! ”

Some of the interesting sessions that OpenOut have had include ‘Stories over a terrace dinner’ where an aspiring chef plated out a delicious supper under a starry-night sky on the terrace of her home, in the company of a professional story telling group called ‘By the river‘ to her guests. Those who love Beer and Barbeques, should also certainly go to the next sitting of ‘John’s tales of froth’ for discussions about all things malted and a whole lot of fun served bottoms up. ‘High tea for the soul’ and ‘Soul cinema and discussions’ are the other fanciful experiences on offer.

The prospect of choosing a place of your liking and interacting with people who share the same thoughts and ideas that you do is certainly exciting as Open-out gatherings offer a more intimate and personalised experience. “Marketing with an amazing beer brand allowed me to come in close proximity with people outside of my friend circles in places like bars, restaurants, and clubs. Speaking to new people across age groups, I sensed a desire for richer social experiences and also a sense of rejection that sounded like ‘well, what else can one do apart from going to these places’? That’s when the need for a better solution started to tickle my brain” explains Arun who quit his dream job to pursue his eureka moment.

The registration on the platform is easy and free for hosts as well as guests and is quite straightforward. The host registers on the platform online, fills out the experience he/she wants to provide and charges a nominal fee for the work that goes into delivering the experience. Based on the host fee guests are charged a nominal ‘guest fee’ over and above this making the revenue model two sided. The average fee for an experience ranges from INR 300 - INR 1200 depending on what’s being offered. OpenOut follows a two-sided revenue model similar to that of Airbnb. Elaborating on this further, Arun states that “We charge host and guest fees on our experiences apart from select brand associations that give us fuel to expand faster.The product is just getting started and you will see a lot more depth built into it which is likely to open up many other revenue streams tapping into the tourism and travel sector.”

OpenOut also takes safety and security very seriously. The company has a stringent background checking process that all hosts must follow. Guests can also only attend a workshop if their entry has been approved by the host themselves to ensure there are no complications. The company is already accommodating a planned expansion to Goa, while still staying true to their ethos of growing slowly, but surely. “Imagine stepping into an old goan home for a marvelous brunch or for an evening of jazz under the stars for 20 people in the yard of a beautiful goan home!” exclaims Arun.

His excitement seems warranted considering the potential with this entertainment shift. In many ways, OpenOut is giving the power of planning the entertainment back to the people who want to consume it. A win-win all around? Only time will tell. For now, we can be content in just watching the next disruption unfold.