New Startup MoonLife Shares Tbilisi’s After Hours Culture
MoonLife is a new startup in the Georgian capital that organizes after-dark tours, club and bar crawls, and other edgy, nighttime events. GEORGIA TODAY sat down with educator and entrepreneur Ani Zedginidze, one of the co-founders of the company, to learn more about the project.
How did you get involved with MoonLife, and who else is on the team?
I have always been interested in creating something new and useful by connecting and mixing things that just exist around us; actually, that is exactly what entrepreneurship is all about – finding new and cooler ways to solve problems and, ultimately, to make people’s lives easier. When I decided that this was exactly what I want to do with my life, I started taking classes at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, which was implemented and supported by Crystal, YES Georgia, PH International and USAID. In the end, I got investment funding for my startup – that is where MoonLife was born. Right now, we have programmers, a designer, and a tours manager on our team. I met them all during a project supported by the US Embassy where I work as a Program Coordinator.
How would you describe MoonLife?
Moonlife is the first and only company that provides unforgettable Tbilisi nightlife tours and experiences for tourists and Fun Hunters. They can book their night adventures through our website and application. Currently, we provide a Tbilisi Club/Bar Crawl – in this tour, we make sure tourists feel the nightlife vibes just like locals, which means we provide lots of chacha, Georgian wine, quality music, and huge dance floors. Also, local businesses or startups that provide original tours throughout the country can place their offers on the MoonLife.events website that can be booked by tourists anytime.
What are your short term and long-term goals for the company?
As our short-term goal, we want to add more exciting tours and events in Tbilisi. In the long run, we plan to evolve throughout the country and beyond the borders of Georgia.
Do you think there’s a demand for this business? Are you filling a gap?
Tbilisi’s economy is so oriented towards nightlife that has become a worldwide hotspot for clubbing or, as the most popular magazines write, “the second Berlin.” We even have a new Deputy Mayor of Night Economy. This is all attractive for nightlife lovers around the globe.
When tourists are interested in Tbilisi nightlife they face some problems. First, there are no locals that provide guided tours to the best nightlife spots in Tbilisi, and usually tourists end up with half the experience they could have got out of one Tbilisi night.
Second, when they travel, they book their flights and hotel/hostel online, but they waste so much time figuring out what to do at night, which place is better, that it becomes disturbing.
Third, different people are creating exciting businesses geared towards this new opportunity, but there is no website or application where tourists can find all the information about it in one place.
That is where MoonLife steps in – we provide guided night tours in the coolest places in Georgia, so tourists can Rock It Like Locals. We created the first website and application for tourists oriented on nightlife and other exciting tours in the country. We create opportunities for night businesses to place their offer on osur web site. And, most importantly, tourists can book their night experiences online before they visit Georgia.
Who are your target customers?
For Club/Bar Crawl tours, mostly tourists aged 18 and up, but local Fun Hunters are more than welcome to join us. This is a great opportunity to meet people around the globe, exchange culture/traditions and share the awesome Georgian experience provided by MoonLife.
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far?
Creating such a big web page and app with programmers was a challenge until I got to know their work better. At first it was hard to manage the project when we literally communicated in totally different languages, I mean, I spoke Georgian to them and they spoke Python to me!
Why do you think tourists should consider MoonLife night tours over other types of city tours? What is unique about what you offer?
Traveling is all about gathering pleasant memories and they are not created by just visiting famous sights: they’re usually created by communication and sharing fun experiences with other people. When I travel, I want to feel that place fully, hang out with locals, see and feel how they live, talk, dress, gesticulate, make jokes, eat and have fun. I care about the countries’ past, history, culture and beautiful architecture, but I also want to feel the real life that locals live in the present. That is where our uniqueness is – we provide such a service, that turns into pure happy memories for our customers.
For more information or to book a tour, visit their Facebook page or, coming soon, www.MoonLife.events. Tours officially begin October 13.
By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: MoonLife