Polarsteps

We have long felt the love from our community of 10+ million travelers, which is our most treasured recognition. But some official honors never hurt! And in 2024, no less than four industry awards championed Polarsteps — for our remarkable growth sparked by our innovative and ambitious mission, and for living and breathing our values. Check out this year's awards round-up in the comments!

We talk a lot about our Teleporter™️ 🌍 But when we say ‘It’s Teleporter time again’, it’s usually to show our colleagues’ reaction to their surprise destination — not the adventures they have on the actual trip! 🎒 This year, Polarsteps team members spun the Teleporter a dizzying 34 times, scoring tickets to destinations on six continents, including countries as far apart as Namibia and New Zealand, Canada and Copenhagen. Some of us chose to travel by train 🚆 but most of us flew many miles from Polarsteps HQ ✈️ 🇻🇳 Community & Support Specialist Eline explored Vietnam from north to south (then worked out the rest of the Dutch winter in Bali 🧘🏻♀️) 🇮🇳 Hannah (also one of our C&S Specialists) jetted to India, celebrating Holi while in Jaipur 🎨 🇮🇳 Jim, Head of Product, also snagged a trip to India, soaking up the food and natural beauty of Kerala 🌿 🇧🇷 Frontend Engineer Niek hiked, cycled, snorkeled, and even helicoptered his way around Brazil 🚁 🇫🇷 Senior Travel Editor Nicky rode the train to Marseille (taking €400 of spending money with her 💸) 🇻🇳 Product Designer Yannis had a blast in Vietnam (and came back with a new tattoo! ⚓) 🇳🇦 Copywriter & Concept Developer Lottie left her cats behind to fall in love with Namibia (and all its wildlife 🐯) 🇺🇸 Jules traveled solo to Hawaii (and hiked his way up and down its volcanos 🌋) 🇸🇰 And Managing Travel Editor Matt escaped by rail to a sun-soaked Slovakia ☀️ Our team is growing fast — which means 2025 will be a record year for the Teleporter! Where would your dream destination be? Try out our Teleporter for yourself and see where your spin takes you! https://lnkd.in/epzDJYzH (Never heard of our Teleporter before? It’s an amazing Polarsteps perk where everyone on the team gets a return ticket to a random destination somewhere in the world on their work anniversary, either by train or plane. Each of us comes back to the office with memories, experiences, and a — mandatory! — souvenir from the trip, plus feedback and new ideas for the Polarsteps app.)

Want to hear our awesome CEO talking about Polarsteps and what it offers to the travel community? Take a listen here! 🙌

More exciting news... 🌟 Polarsteps has made it onto The Europas 100 Hottest Startups list for 2024! 🎉 We’re always pretty confident that we’ve built an awesome app for travelers, but seeing the name Polarsteps on so many prestigious lists like this one is a real pinch-me moment! 🙌 The award ceremony took place yesterday in Lisbon, and our Managing Travel Editor, Matt Phillips, was there to rub shoulders with the best and brightest in the startup world. A huge thanks to for this recognition and, as always, to our amazing team and wonderful users for making this journey so rewarding. ❤️ #TheEuropas100 @TheEuropas #Startups #Innovation #Polarsteps

We’re incredibly excited to share that we’ve been named one of Deloitte’s 50 fastest-growing tech companies in the Netherlands! 🚀 Not only is this a fantastic recognition of our journey so far, but it also gave two of our founders, Job and Maximiliano the perfect excuse to dress to impress at last week’s awards event 🎉 We couldn’t be prouder of our team for making this milestone possible. And speaking of growth — great companies need great people! If you’re curious about joining our adventure, check out our open positions: https://lnkd.in/g5F8rZi 🌟 #DeloitteFast50 #TechInnovation #WeAreHiring

Last night, we hosted our very first user event at Polarsteps HQ ✨ — an exciting opportunity for some of our most passionate and adventurous explorers to connect, meet the Polarsteps team, and share their insights on the app (with a few slices of pizza 🍕 and drinks 🍻 on the side!). The evening was a true testament to our community’s dedication — not only to our app but to the shared love of travel and the drive to capture unforgettable memories. Thank you to everyone who came 🙌 — it meant the world to us 🌍 And we hope to see more of you in the future! ❤️

There’s nothing that makes us happier than seeing a Polarsteps user truly in love with how we’ve helped them capture their journey 🫶 And when this video from French Polarsteps explorer Kevin Riethmuller landed in our inbox, we could definitely feel that love! Seeing our community get as passionate about our product as we are is why we do what we do — making every trip memorable, shareable, and just a little more magical ✨ Here’s to all our adventurers! ❤️

Our awesome team is looking for a new member! Let's do great things together: https://lnkd.in/euaP-3eQ

It’s not always easy to pin down what you want your future to look like — which is why Sascha Vloet, our Head of People & Operations, recently hosted our very first Personal Development Workshop! 🙌 This special offsite event was designed to help members of the Polarsteps team focus on their skills, career planning, and goal-setting. ✨ The session was incredibly open and transparent, giving us all the chance to share a bit about our current dreams, areas of interest, and even areas of struggle. We also worked through a series of interactive exercises to help us gain clarity and move forward. 🤝❤️ (With beautiful hand-painted worksheets created by our Product Designer, Riccardo Rigo! 👏) If your career goals include joining our team, make sure to check out our open positions 😉 https://lnkd.in/dZjFvzgW #PersonalDevelopment #TeamGrowth #SelfImprovement

Our CEO, Clare Jones, recently joined the 40 Minute Mentor podcast to share her journey and her bold vision for the future of Polarsteps 🚀 She talks about being welcomed into the team with open arms (and her very own tree 🌳) and how she dove right in, spending her first days alongside our Customer Support team, answering user inquiries firsthand — and the valuable lessons she learned along the way! Clare also examines the “special sauce” behind Polarsteps’ potential for scalable growth (spoiler: it’s all about strong foundations and an incredible team) and the importance of adapting communication as a company evolves. As always, her passion is contagious, making this a must-listen: https://lnkd.in/eS7nprYU 🎧 #Leadership #40MinuteMentor #Scalability #GrowthJourney