Neal and Keith Belovay, PicThrive's Co-founders

Founders, Keith & Neal in 2016

Founded by Family

PicThrive is a family business like many of its customers. It was started by brothers Keith and Neal Belovay who share a love for travel and anything and everything outdoors. The brothers created PicThrive because they wanted to take their families along on their adventures even when they were thousands of miles apart.

Keith, a software engineer who once worked at Amazon, and Neal, an associate equity analyst who started his career in investment banking, decided to create a family business out of their primary love, travel. They launched PicThrive out of their living room in Vancouver.

How It All Began

Not that equity analysis and investment banking aren’t exciting but Neal realized that his heart wasn’t into it. He hung up his banker’s suit and started a 1-year backpacking adventure around the world. 

Along the way, he jumped out of airplanes and off the side of cliffs. He rafted down giant waterfalls and camped under night skies. Soon, Keith joined Neal on the trip. More than anything else, what Neal loved was sharing his experiences with his family, especially, his mother. 

The only way to do it was through the USB with all the photos and videos that the tour operator would give Neal. Only problem? They were only carrying a smartphone, like all sensible travelers.

They didn’t want to buy photos that they couldn’t see or share after the fact. This is the only photo that remains of Neal jumping 200 meters to the abyss.

Surely there had to be a better way to see the photos and videos and share them with the world, the brothers thought. 

PicThrive was that better way. They created it so that future rafters, hang-gliders, parachuters, and other adventurers could share those “WOW” moments in real-time. Now they could access and share those with their families. Their loved ones could now be a part of their adventures.

Neal canyon swing – 2013

First office space – 2016

Then Came the Grind

Keith and Neal knew what every small business owner knows. That passion alone doesn’t build anything. It takes hard work and late nights and weekends. In other words, they built PicThrive the old-fashioned way.

They worked at the photo desks of adventure tour operators. They camped at ziplines to understand the needs of their guests. They learned from the ground how a zipline can wow their guests with better photo sales and delivery software.

They went behind the photo desks of skydiving, rafting, zipline, and other outdoor businesses to know what software would solve their problems. They spent time with owners, managers, staff members, and guests to create software that was easier to use than all current systems.

They discovered great mentors along the way from accelerators Travelport and Communitech. Since 2016, PicThrive has grown to serve hundreds of customers across outdoor and adventure businesses. Today, the PicThrive family is spread all over the world.

PicThrive’s reason for existence is to make photos the best part of the tour experience for staff and guests. The company was the first photo software to be integrated with reservation systems like FareHarbor, Xola, Rezdy, and digital waivers. The company has always been innovative with patent-pending technology.

Importantly, PicThrive now delivers top-of-the-line software with an amazing team that’s obsessed with customer success.

We Know What It Takes

When the pandemic began and shutdowns left our industry in paralysis, PicThrive knew it would have to work as a collective unit. It wasn’t a moment to be worried about numbers or quarterly results. It was a moment to think and work for all the members of the PicThrive family. 

PicThrive worked with customers to better package their offerings. It helped businesses rapidly adapt to the new environment and many of them have seen higher sales during the last year than in any preceding year. 

PicThrive was able to help its customers to recover faster and better adapt to the new environment. We’re in this together.

Founders, Neal and Keith – 2021

We’re helping tour and activity operators find a better way to sell and share their photos and videos

We started using PicThrive last year and we’re happy that we did! PicThrive has made our photo program more streamlined and efficient.

Glacier Raft Company

PicThrive has been such an easy and efficient transition. We are able to get our guests on their way quickly, sell more photos than we used to and the service also allows us to follow up… I can highly recommend PicThrive.

River Ventures

Kitchener-Waterloo is Home

Kitchener-Waterloo is known for its thriving tech ecosystem and is home to companies like Google and OpenText. In Canada, great minds gather here

Waterloo region is part of the Toronto- Waterloo corridor. Outside of Silicon Valley, it’s the largest tech cluster in North America. You’ll find over 15,000 tech companies, along with almost 300,000 employees in high tech industries. 40% of the corridor’s population is foreign-born. This translates into welcoming communities and a diverse talent pool

Collage with some of Waterloo's region highlights

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