We are Polarsteps
Founded in
2015
Team size
0+
Users
0+ million
HQ
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
mission & vision
What motivates us
We want to lead a global movement towards more adventurous travel. Our app inspires people to explore the world and captures the stories they create along the way — whether it’s a six-month trip or a weekend canoeing close to home. True adventure shapes us and pushes us to grow as humans, forging a deeper connection with the world and our place in it.
Our story
Born at sea,
built for adventure
At Polarsteps, everyone is an explorer at heart. So it’s only fitting that our app wasn’t born at a desk, but on a catamaran, halfway across the Atlantic. No business plan, no boardroom — just Niek, a Dutch adventurer with a vision, a bit of technical know-how, and nothing but open water as far as the eye could see.
The idea was simple: capture the adventure and let others follow along. Armed with a basic satellite setup, Niek created a way to ping his location and his descriptions of the day to a server back home, mapping his journey in real time so friends and family could come for the ride.
The more he traveled, the more he tracked. The more he tracked, the more people followed.
But some did more than follow — they saw potential. What if this wasn’t just for one trip? What if it was for all travelers?
Those believers were Job, Koen, and Maximiliano. Together, they joined Niek to form an adventure-seeking founding team of four. Their mission? To change the way people capture their adventures. Well, that was the goal at first…
But it soon evolved into something bigger — helping travelers at every single stage of the journey, from the first spark of inspiration to seamlessly planning their trip, tracking and sharing their experiences on a beautiful world map, and finally, reliving their adventures for years to come.
With the help of our very first hires (who, by the way, are still with us today), those rough prototypes became a fully-fledged app. That spark of an idea? It became a company. We found an office and formed a team of people who love travel and care deeply about what they're building.
And the travelers — first thousands, then millions — took it from there, spreading the word. Today, Polarsteps isn’t just an app — it’s a global community and a way to celebrate the spirit of true adventure.
Now, with Clare, our new CEO, leading the way, we’re more excited than ever for the next steps of our journey…