This Assam-built tourism startup is rethinking how the Northeast is discovered

The Northeast has always been a destination of stories — tribal festivals, hidden valleys, archaeological sites, and cultures layered over centuries. Yet for travellers, finding a way in has often meant piecing together scattered information or relying on operators with little local grounding. FinderBridge Tourism emerged to change that, positioning itself not just as a travel organizer but as a tourism intelligence platform rooted in Assam.

Early beginnings

Founder and CEO Higmanshu Baruah began the journey in 2016–17, while still in his second year of engineering. “I thought of creating a website that offered complete information about Northeast India,” he recalls. “Later, it transformed into a full‑fledged tourism organisation.”

The idea quickly gained traction. “When we launched the website on social media, people immediately recognised that something called FinderBridge had started,” he says. “Through word of mouth and references, we began receiving queries from travellers eager to explore Northeast India. Our first trip led to the next, then the next, and that momentum has continued till today.”

From the outset, Higmanshu was clear that FinderBridge would not be just another travel operator. “Whatever I built, I wanted it to be unique; something truly different that challenges the category,” he says.

Offbeat experiences

FinderBridge carved a niche by offering trips that mainstream operators rarely touched. “We offer trips to the far corners of Northeast India, which most others do not provide,” Higmanshu explains.

These include photography tours, cultural immersions, tribal heritage trails, and archaeology trips. “FinderBridge is not just a travel booking platform,” he says. “It is a tourism intelligence and experience platform where we innovate in ways that can be applied to the Northeast region.”

A crucial boost came last year when FinderBridge received a Rs 10 lakh scale‑up grant from the Assam government. “I was working only on the travel segment, but I had a lot of ideas for different areas of the tourism industry,” Higmanshu says. “At that time, I lacked the funds to pursue them.”

The grant allowed him to expand into new verticals. “We started destination weddings, tourism marketing, and travel content,” he shares. “These are the new channels we launched after receiving the grant, which was a very big step for us.”

Road ahead

Today, FinderBridge offers curated experiences across all eight Northeastern states, from photography tours to cultural festivals. Its ambition is to position the Northeast as a global travel destination, while ensuring that local communities benefit from tourism.

For Higmanshu Baruah, the journey from a student‑led startup to a funded tourism platform is proof that Assam’s startup ecosystem can nurture ideas rooted in the region’s identity. And as FinderBridge expands into weddings, marketing, and content, it continues to show how innovation in tourism can be both commercially viable and culturally meaningful.

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