Pao's story is rooted in family and friends who love to travel and experience the world. In 2017, our CEO Anna graduated from UCLA and instead of pursuing further studies in forensic psychology, she convinced her mom Sara and best friend Maddie to join her in creating and launching an app that would solve the problems they faced as world travelers who also want to find the best smoothie near home.

Pao (say "pow!") means "go!" in Greek, and that's what the Pao team aims to help people do. Our mission is to get people off the couch and into the real world to find and experience the coolest hidden gems, and then share them so that others can experience them too.  Why is this important? The Pao team believes the more we go out and meet people, experience the world both near and far from home, the more tolerant we become toward those who are different from us.  We all need more connectivity!

Pao also wants to elevate small businesses; the unique hidden gems out there are often small firms operated by people who are also trying to impact the world. Pao wants to amplify their presence, help them find customers and in the process benefit the Pao community by showing them cool things to do.

The Pao app has a community over 100,000 strong, the Pao social accounts have over 600,000 followers - all who want to get out and experience the best the world has to offer.  Join us!