Our Story

May 2023

Direct Messaging

Having a comprehensive, Interactive Itinerary for organising your trip is one thing, communicating directly between groups of people before, during and after is another. Who wants the headache of using a spaghetti of emails, SMS’s, phone calls, social media apps, messaging apps etc. … none of which are built specifically for this purpose?

Lyfshort now offers Direct Messaging between any participants that are part of the same Trip groups. This includes sending images, documents and reactions. Group messages also automatically link to itinerary item channels to avoid one big jumbled conversation between larger groups.

Feb 2022

PDF Export Released

For tour operators and recreational users alike, it just got easier to build, save, share and/or print itineraries.

Introducing PDF Export. Options Include Itinerary route map, Feature image for each item, Map or transit location(s) for each item, Header Branding (Businesses) and Customisable display filters.

Sept 2021

Booking Imports Released

One of the most requested enhancements by the Lyfshort community is now available.

Booking Imports can be used to manage a master itinerary across different suppliers without manual entry by just forwarding supplier confirmation emails to go@lyfshort.com (such as flights, accommodation, trains, transfers, activities, parking, cruises, buses, events, ferries etc.)

Mar 2021

Expense Management Introduced

Have you ever organised a trip with friends and wanted an easy way to budget, track and synchronise expenses in one place? Introducing Lyfshort Expense Management. Includes Individual Tracking, Group Sharing, Automated Currency Conversion and a Split Calculator. Supports 170 global currencies.

Oct 2020

10,000+ Registered Users

Amongst significant lockdowns and global travel restrictions over 10,000 users across 96 countries have now created Lyfshort profiles and are planning adventures and activities with their friends.

Jul 2020

25,000+ Trip and Event Items created

Lyfshort users are now managing over 25,000 itinerary items across their Trips and Events. Some of the top uses include adventure travel, family holidays, bucket lists, road trips, sporting weekends, weddings and bachelorette/bachelor parties.

Jun 2020

Seed Capital Raise Completed

Private seed capital raise. Funding to be used for technical development, operational scaling and marketing initiatives to support growth.

Mar 2020

Web Version Released

To date the Lyfshort App was only available in native iOS and Android versions downloadable from the App and Play stores. Lyfshort can now also be used from any web browser compatible computer or mobile device by visiting https://app.lyfshort.com. Users can login via any of these 3 methods using their profile credentials.

Jul 2019

1,000 Registered Users

Over 1,000 users across 36 countries have created profiles and registered with Lyfshort to help plan adventures and activities with their friends.

Apr 2019

Version 1.0 Goes Live

After many months of building, refinement and testing, the Lyfshort V1.0 App is now live and available for general use on iOS and Android devices, downloadable from the App and Play stores. What started as an idea, then a plan, is now a live reality!

Jan 2019

Beta Version Release

An updated Beta version containing modifications identified by users in the focus group is released. This version is available for installation on iOS and Android devices. Not available publicly, only a small closed user group start testing it out by invitation.

Aug 2018

Focus Group Testing

4 focus group testing cohorts are completed using the Alpha test version of the Lyfshort App. Main data gathering objectives centred around market demand validation, user experience and monetisation strategies.

Jul 2018

Testing Release (Alpha)

A rudimentary Alpha version of the Lyfshort App goes live, available for installation on iOS and Android devices. Only available to a small, closed user group for testing and refinement.

Mar 2018

Platform Framework Completed

Core database backend, technology stack and relevant hosting infrastructure in place. Front end design completed and construction commenced. An initial Alpha version of the product will be released to a small number of test users.

Oct 2017

Assembling the Team

A passionate founder, traveller and technologist (46 countries & Previous APAC VP for NASDAQ:LPSN), Steven Fitzjohn took on the role as CEO. He then scoured the market for highly skilled people that both shared the vision for what Lyfshort was building, had significant technical abilities, enjoyed travel and liked the sound of being involved at the ground level of a tech startup. Presto! Lyfshort was underway with 3 Senior developers and a head of Marketing.

Oct 2017

Lyfshort is Born

“Lyfshort” ? … life IS short, make the most of it! One fulfilling and rewarding way to do this, while also better understanding yourself and the people around you, is through travel and shared experiences.

Lyfshort’s goal is to create the best way for private groups to organise Trips, Travel and Events together through efficient information and communication sharing.

Lyfshort Pty. Ltd. is a registered Australian company based in Melbourne.

Feb 2016

Has to be a better way!

Steven Fitzjohn (Founder & CEO) and his girlfriend Jess were traveling around Thailand booking and managing a range of transport, accommodation, food and drinks and recreational activities. Sometimes they were not travelling together while planning, also having to deal with the challenges of intermittent internet access. This ended up being an extremely time consuming, disconnected and often infuriating experience.

Using a patchwork of different online travel suppliers and resellers to get reasonable value for customised trips and then booking each one separately is inevitable, however trying to save and manage all this information and trying to communicate and collaborate about the details is a nightmare.

Steve and Jess ended up using a range of disconnected apps, social media platforms, spreadsheets and software tools, accompanied by a spaghetti of email, SMS and messaging threads, none of which were really designed for this purpose.

In today’s digital age it should have been a lot easier.

Challenge accepted … hello Lyfshort!