Rahul Chugh

Building Atlys (travel visas on time)

ex-VC @matrixindiavc

Alum @ISBedu @SRCCDU • Views personal

[Ryan Hoover @rrhoover]

Sometimes you meet a founder and instantly know they'll be successful.

A pattern I look for: a hacker mindset + ability to run through walls.

Thanks for including us (x3), @mohaknahta.

[Jeff Weinstein @jeff_weinstein]

Ah, another one of those overnight successes.

(Go @mohaknahta and the @atlys team! Such a great mission.)

[Mohak Nahta @mohaknahta]

We’ve raised $36M in Series C, led by @SusquehannaVC (SIG). Existing investors @LongJourneyVC , @ElevCap and @peakxvpartners doubled down. @makemytrip joined the round, marking the start of a strategic partnership to further enable seamless travel.

But if I’m honest, moments like this belong just as much to our customers. The people who trusted us with journeys that really mattered to them. Many came to us anxious, uncertain, sometimes completely overwhelmed by the process. And yet they chose Atlys. Many came back again. Many told someone else to try us. That kind of trust has shaped our growth far more than any metric ever could.

A big thank you to the team as well for your effort, commitment, and conviction. This progress reflects what we’ve built together and what is still ahead.

[Mohak Nahta @mohaknahta]

Ever thought DigiLocker authorisation will be used to secure visas to other countries? Brazil's testing it.

Their new business eVisa integrates directly with DigiLocker. You sign digitally, they verify it on their end. No notarisation or physical documents necessary. First country to plug into India's digital infrastructure this way. If it scales to tourism, this could change how every country processes Indian visas.

[Ami Palan @markmeyourze]

Okay, so; I have no idea how @atlys managed to pull this off. I applied for my Sri Lanka visa at 11:21 PM last night and received my e-visa at 11:28 PM.
The entire process took less than 10 minutes. What a time to be alive!

[Mohak Nahta @mohaknahta]

Most LLMs are fine for general use. But when the cost of a mistake is huge — like scanning passports for visas — you can’t rely on them.

So at @atlys, we built our own.

BoltOCR: an in-house model that outperforms GPT-4o and Claude Sonnet 4.

[Mohak Nahta @mohaknahta]

don’t get a visa. go to kashmir.

[Rahul Chugh @rahulchugh29]

@anandlalsah @atlys Hi - can you let me know the email ID you used to login?

[Vaya @travelwithvaya]

Booked the ticket.
Happiness checked-in at Terminal 3.

#TravelWithVaya #SpainTrip #ZNMDtrip #Europe #Travel

[Mohak Nahta @mohaknahta]

In 2022, I set out on a mission:

To make the Indian passport the world’s strongest in 5 years.

What does that mean?

You wake up on a Friday, decide to fly to Italy, apply for a visa—and it’s approved by afternoon.

Here’s how we’re making it possible 🧵

[Rahul Chugh @rahulchugh29]

@mohaknahta @atlys

[Kiku @Kiku_1993]

@unboxmatrix @mohaknahta @atlys I shared my unfiltered experience. For HK, i have seen companies charging close to 500/- flat whereas it is free. The reason being some passports issued in certain Indian cities are automatically rejected by HK. Even before paying i see this in @atlys. This is very transparent.

[Parv @Parv_EP]

@mohaknahta @atlys You have to sell into an impossible to appease audience. Just so you also know the other side, I’ve been an Atlys user 10+ times and it’s an absolute godsend. Thanks for solving a real pain point.

[Mohak Nahta @mohaknahta]

A lot has been said about how we represent government fees on @atlys:

1. Every country calls its visas different names - SDF for Bhutan, ETA for Kenya etc. As a customer, it is very confusing to understand what these terms mean but it's easier to know that it's going to then Government directly. Hence we use "Government fees" everywhere. This is also based on numerous experiments, surveys and user research.

2. On Bhutan, we only offer a 15 day entry permit (SDF) currently. Hence, 1200 x 15 = 18k. On our page, we clarify a) it's 15 days only b) that it is SDF c) history of SDF and why it exists. If someone wants to go for shorter or longer time, they can apply directly. For many countries, Atlys still offers only one visa type yet. And i think there's nothing wrong with that.

[Manoj Ahirwar @manoj_ahi]

One of the best apps I have ever used.

Getting Visa is just 3-4 clicks away with Atlys

I have started using Atlys this January and it's just a crazy good experience.

[Rahul Chugh @rahulchugh29]

@maahinpuri Pls add for airbnb

[Z47 @z47_vc]

For more, read full article here: https://t.co/m0V7g6ES7a

@tarun_davda | @chander1987 | @rahulchugh29 | @orhanparikh

#FoundersFirst #AIatMatrix

[Z47 @z47_vc]

The Drone Mixer 2023 was attended by over 120+ companies. In collaboration with @dronefed, the event brought together senior officials including Rajiv Bansal & Piyush Srivastava of @MoCA_GoI, alongside others from @DGCAIndia, @AAI_Official & @MinofDefIndia.

@RajivBa69399039

[Sambhav Raj @Sambhav7Raj]

Such a fun time last evening discussing new ideas, meeting old friends and networking with talented folks. @matrixindiavc organised one killer mixer!

[Abhishek Kochhar @abhisheKochhar]

attended the @matrixindiavc Delhi-ISB internet ecosystem mixer. nothing like meeting such a diverse group of operators and builders under one roof