ABOUT RIDJ-IT
Awesome photo from a Ridj-iteer that joined a sunset hike at Kearsarge North posted by another long-time user.
Ridj-it is a community adventure platform that brings people, organizations, and businesses together for cool activities and events within the same region. Hiking, biking, skiing, and many other activities that were previously difficult to get to because of a lack of transportation or not having any friends to join are now possible through Ridj-it’s matching program. Ridj-it develops a variety of tools to make all of this happen including carpooling, event creation, and other features that help everyone work together to make the regions we live in more accessible.
Pictured right to left: Rik Ganguly, Ari Iaccarino, and Alex Nikitin (who was brave enough to join the team as CTO shortly after Ridj-it's inception).
Co-founders Rik Ganguly and Ari Iaccarino created Ridj-it when they experienced the same issue they now solve: access and company to hike the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Ari had no car and relied solely on Rik to get to the Whites as there is little to no transportation to get there. If Ari couldn’t hike, then Rik had nobody to go with. And even when both invited friends to come, many times they would decide to cancel last minute. So one day after hiking Franconia Ridge, an eight-hour traverse across three peaks, both realized that they could create a platform that would not only get people to the mountains and other outdoor destinations but could also do it more reliably and consistently. Just as a ridge connects two mountains, Ridj-it connects everyone to the mountains (and any other destination local or otherwise).
Yes, selfies with alpacas count as an adventure.
Who uses Ridj-it? 3,000+ users comprised of non-profits, small businesses, ski clubs, and individuals have posted and joined adventures on Ridj-it, and the camaraderie built between these multiple stakeholders has been amazing. Ridj-it users have helped create 600+ events, provided 3,000+ rides, and have contributed thousands of dollars to creating sustainable regional economies. Where is all of this happening? All of New England and NY have had Ridj-iteers hike, bike, camp, and more. We’re excited to expand to other regions, and we’d love to hear from you if you’re located beyond these places!
This is an example of our carpooling tool in action. Drivers and riders are matched together, and unlike Uber or Lyft, passengers have to submit a detailed profile; doing so keeps drivers safe and adventures transparent.
Rik, a data scientist, and Ari, an ESL educator, have worked in non-profits for most of their careers prior to Ridj-it, and the decision to make Ridj-it a for-profit business was based on several considerations. The first is that we believe our model helps to bring capital to non-profits that are already doing the good work of making our regions healthy and beautiful; there should be little restriction on the company’s ability to support them to the max. Additionally, thousands of denizens are seasonally employed in small businesses, and these guides, ski houses, bike shops, and others deserve to have access to a community of sustainable adventuring. Finally, we believe the outdoors and other aspects of the region are not appreciated to the fullest because little value has been assigned to them. Ridj-it is serious about making everyone aware of how valuable our land and people are, and this requires a for-profit model. The result of this has been an increase in accessibility for those who have not had the chance to adventure and increased visitors during off-seasons for these organizations.
Ridj-it develops tools to help adventurers and event providers, and when we work together, we create a community that gives back to each other through sharing both an online ecosystem and the real one we enjoy under the sun, snow, and sky. We hope you’ll join us in our mission to make our regions more accessible.