Peter Thiel backed goal-setting app Everest now live in SA

Everest

Everest

Anyone who’s ever had a new years’ resolution knows that setting goals is a lot easier than achieving them. If only there was an app that could help you stay on track. Enter Everest.

The app, which launched on iOS in the US in late 2012, before expanding to the UK and Ireland earlier this year, is now live in the South African app store.

Backed by the likes of PayPal co-founder and legendary venture capitalist Peter Thiel Joe Gebbia (Airbnb) and Peter Diamandis (X Prize), the app allows people to set a goal as well as a potentially infinite number of steps they need to take to achieve that goal.

While they can set their own goals and steps, they can also borrow goals and steps from other people. In the course of achieving their goals, people can also share photos and written content, and connect with others using the app’s social features.

People have added over 1-million steps to their goals since the app was first released in the United States in January.

“Nelson Mandela, Christiaan Barnard, and Elon Musk have inspired me”, says co-founder and CEO Francis Pedraza, “so I am excited to see the goals and dreams the rest of the people of South Africa will accomplish with Everest!”

The goals can range from learning a new language, to getting in the best shape of their life, to teaching their kid how to ride a bike.

And it’s that wide-ranging goal choice which separates Everest from the goal-setting function within apps like Runkeeper.

Pedraza insists that the goals don’t necessarily have to be tangible either. You can, for instance, have a goal of reading more books. Breaking it down into smaller steps, such as going to a book store or joining a library, and sharing them means that you’re more likely to achieve the goal, he told Ventureburn.

The first South Africans who accomplish these goals on Everest will be recognized:

  1. Commune with nature on a safari in Kruger National Park.
  2. Explore fossils of the first humans in the Sterkfontein caves.
  3. Snap a photo of a whale at Hermanus Village.
  4. Learn to stand-up paddleboard at Cape Town’s Sunset Beach
  5. Support the Bafana Bafana at an international football match

Everest is also announcing a new feature this week: Dream Journeys, a beautiful new web interface for sharing progress and asking for suggestions.

Look out for Ventureburn’s exclusive interview with Pedraza, coming soon.

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