From tour operator to a high growth software platform: How GoCar built Sulu

About Sulu

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Sulu is an AI platform for tour and attraction operators. Operators use it to create and narrate GPS-guided tours, translate them into dozens of languages, and manage their rental fleets. It’s a platform to run best-in-class, self-guided tour rentals profitably.

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A new tour that used to take weeks to build now takes hours. When a route changes or seasonal content updates are needed, operators can quickly update it in one place. The software drives efficiencies, alongside an operating playbook, to make for a seamless experience for both operator and customer. Hop in a rental car or bike, load your tour and explore with our AI-powered guide.

Our Partnership

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Nathan Withrington, Chris Boone and Alasadair Clements built GoCar into a leading GPS-guided tour company across the southwestern U.S. As GoCar grew, two problems held it back:

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  • Tours were slow to make. Each one took weeks of manual work, so adding a new route or city was a big lift. 
  • The rental fleet was difficult to manage, too. Staff tracked cars, rental overages and insurance reports by hand or across a patchwork of off-the-shelf tools, which made for clunky and inefficient processes.

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Yeti partnered with Nathan and the team to fix both. Together, we built Sulu to handle tour creation and fleet operations in one system. Yeti leads product, AI development, commercialization and collaborates on financial and go-to-market. Nathan brings decades of experience running tours and deep relationships across the industry.

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Sulu owns and operates GoCar’s 6 locations as our testing ground and primary use case for AI deployed operational improvements. We also license our software standalone for other tour operators.

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Our Impact

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Here's what changed for GoCar:

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  • Tour creation went from taking weeks to hours, bringing the cost to onboard new locations down significantly 
  • Fleet management upgraded  to a smooth, easy-to-use one system
  • Check-ins are now automated so staff can spend more time with customers
  • Billing overages that sometimes used to go unbilled are now charged automatically
  • Telematics incorporated in the application encourages better driving behaviour and brings down insurance costs
  • The user experience is improved and seamlessly encourages users to continue exploring driving upsell revenue and margins
  • Software licenses to third party operators adds a separate income stream

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As Nathan shared, “Partnering with Yeti has fundamentally transformed GoCar's trajectory. Together, we've reimagined workflows and designed the business to scale beyond what was previously possible. Having a partner that understands the business dynamics at play and the software systems to take advantage of present opportunities is priceless.”

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Margins are up, customers get a better experience, and GoCar has expanded to new locations. It's now a multimillion dollar tour rental business on track to double revenue in 2027.

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Plus, Sulu also powers tours for other operators, including Big Bus. For Yeti, it's a clear example of our model: a founder with deep industry knowledge, a proven service business, and the AI and product work to unlock the bottlenecks and turn it into a software platform.

Partnering with Yeti has fundamentally transformed GoCar's trajectory. Together, we've reimagined workflows and designed the business to scale beyond what was previously possible. Having a partner that understands the business dynamics at play and the software systems to take advantage of present opportunities is priceless.
Nathan Withrington
A yeti leads 2 hikers across a surreal, otherworldly landscape formed of smooth twisting rocks covered in moss and vegetation.
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