Skyscanner founders back new social media app Decidz

A new free social media app designed in Scotland has launched with the backing of all three of Skyscanner's co-founders.

Developed in Scotland, Decidz is a new social planning app.

Bonamy Grimes, Barry Smith and Gareth Williams, the trio behind Scotland’s billion pound flight comparison site have invested in social planning app Decidz.



An initial funding round is reported to have raised nearly £500,000 for the business which is based at Edinburgh’s tech incubator, Codebase.


Decidz is accessible via any web browser using the new iOS and Android apps, the apps missions is to “help friends get together - in a hassle-free and fun way”.

The Decidz founding team. Picture: Contributed

In a scheduling apps marketplace with an estimated 100 million plus monthly users and dominated by a small handful of global players, the team behind the project have drawn on elements of existing products while adding unique characteristics such as availability on all devices, collaborative decision making, personalised location and event information and built-in social functionality.

Decidz’s co-founders are former senior Skyscanner executives Tom Williams and Craig Parker. Tom’s brother is Gareth Williams.



Decidz CEO, Tom Williams, said: “We think the scheduling space is missing a trick and we’re developing a product better designed to fit the user’s lifestyle rather than being just another tool.

The Decidz founding team. Picture: Contributed

“Decidz is less about calendar management and more about creating a conversation that leads to people doing more together.”

Bonamy Grimes, Skyscanner co-founder and non-executive director of Decidz, said: “We’re excited at the opportunity for Decidz to become a go-to app with the ability to transform how people organise their social activity in the 21st century.

“They have a small, but world-class team in place with the support of quality investors and advisers and we’re all pointed in the right direction when it comes to the potential of the product and its scalability.”

Ray Nolan, former Skyscanner chairman and an investor in Decidz, said: “When a team of this calibre joins heads to solve a problem, it doesn’t take a lot to convince me to invest.

“Decidz is solving a problem that has dogged the internet since people first discovered email.

“A simple get-together of more than a couple of people can take literally hours to organise.”

Decidz is targeting a local audience in Scotland and the UK before extending the user base internationally. As part of its local strategy, the team will be using the Edinburgh Festivals in August as a testing ground for the product.