Atlys Unlocked: Redefining visa services with technology and customer-centric innovation

Switching from the meat business to the travel industry might sound like an odd leap, but for Santosh Hegde, Head of Marketing at Atlys, it was a move that brought both challenge and clarity. From ensuring that freshly cut meat reached homes on time at Licious, to making sure passports return stamped and ready for travel.

 “At Licious, the key was timely delivery ensuring families got what they ordered exactly when they expected it,” Hegde says. “At Atlys, it’s the same principle, just on a different scale; only now, the stakes are much higher. A delayed visa can mean a ruined holiday or a missed business opportunity.”

Unlearning the Familiar: From Meat to Visas, Shift in Perspective

Reflecting on his journey from Licious to Atlys, Hegde draws an intriguing parallel between two vastly different worlds, one delivering fresh meat to households, the other ensuring travellers receive their visas on time. “The biggest difference,” he explains, “is in the nature of the transaction.

 Meat is a low-value but high-cadence category; most Indians consume it once or twice a week. But international travel is the exact opposite among the 30 million passengers who travel abroad every year, the average frequency is just about 1.4 to 1.5 trips per person.” Yet, there’s a shared foundation between the two: a commitment to timely delivery. Whether it’s a Sunday order from Licious or a family’s long-awaited vacation, both demand precision and reliability.

However, this transition wasn’t without its challenges. Hegde admits it required him to unlearn and relearn on both philosophical and functional levels. “In the meat category, if a delivery goes wrong, you usually get another chance to make it right the next week. But in travel, there are no second chances. If you disappoint a customer once, that trust is broken and rebuilding it is almost impossible,” he says. The stakes are undeniably higher: for a family spending five to six lakh rupees on a week-long trip, the visa itself might be just 2–5% of the cost, but without it, the entire journey is at risk. That realization shaped how Atlys operates.

Functionally too, Hegde’s learning evolved. “Travel is an ecosystem,” he says. “People don’t just look for visa help, they look for information, inspiration and guidance.” This understanding shifted Atlys’ marketing focus from being purely promotional to building a holistic content ecosystem, positioning the brand as a trusted authority in travel, not just a facilitator. It’s this combination of precision, empathy, and purpose.

Building a Brand While Creating a Category: The Atlys Way

For Santosh Hegde, building Atlys has meant doing two things at once creating a brand while establishing an entirely new category, which requires awareness and consideration to move together. “You don’t have the luxury of launching a brand into a category that’s already well-defined,” he explains.

Visa processes are complex by design, meant to regulate international travel. Typically, consumers face three major pain points: cognitive load (uncertainty about procedures), efficiency (inconsistent processing times), and certainty of outcome (high rejection rates even with strong profiles).

Atlys guarantees a specific timestamp for visa delivery, with a full refund if they fail. “Certainty is what people crave most,” says Hegde. By solving these pain points, Atlys is not just simplifying visas, it's building trust and reshaping how people perceive the category.

 Hegde emphasizes that building a new category isn’t just about streamlining processes; it’s also about educating the consumer. Many travellers are unsure of where to start, which forms to fill, or how to navigate the everchanging rules of consulates. Atlys uses technology, expert guidance, and content to guide users through every step, making the complex seem simple.

The company has effectively positioned itself as both a service provider and an authority in international travel, ensuring customers feel confident at every stage. The company’s approach also reflects a deep understanding of consumer psychology. By guaranteeing outcomes and providing clear, predictable timelines, Atlys reduces the anxiety often associated with visas.

Navigating the Four Visa Funnels: Atlys’ Streamlined Approach

At Atlys, the visa process is customized into four distinct funnels, each designed to address varying levels of complexity and consulate requirements. The first, the “easy visa” flow, covers countries like Dubai or South Africa, where applicants simply upload their passport and a selfie through Atlys’ proprietary tools to receive their visa within the promised timeline.

The second, “hard e-visas,” follows a similar process but may require additional documentation such as bank statements or income tax filings all handled seamlessly within the app or website, eliminating the need for emails or separate submissions.

 The third funnel addresses countries like Japan and South Korea, where passports must be physically picked up for consulate verification. Atlys manages the entire process through a trusted logistics partner, ensuring smooth visa issuance and delivery for a service fee. The fourth and most complex funnel involves countries such as the US, UK, Schengen nations, and Canada, where applicants must submit biometrics at processing centers. Here, Atlys leverages its team of experts, many with years of consulate experience, to guide applicants on optimizing their submissions and avoiding common rejection reasons, providing a critical edge in securing approval.

All four funnels are developed in-house, reflecting Atlys’ commitment to creating a tech-enabled, end-to-end visa solution that simplifies what is traditionally a stressful and confusing process, ensuring customers experience both efficiency and certainty at every step.

Harvesting and Creating Demand: Atlys’ Dynamic Marketing Strategy

At Atlys, marketing isn’t just about responding to demand it’s about creating it as well. Out of the 30 million Indians traveling abroad each year, roughly 30–40% are DIY travellers who manage bookings, including flights, hotels, and visas, on their own. While this represents the in-market audience actively seeking services, it accounts for only about 8–10% of the category at any given time. Atlys uses performance marketing across channels like Google, Meta, Snap, and Taboola to harvest this demand daily.

However, the remaining 90% of potential travellers are cold audiences not actively seeking international travel at the moment but likely to become warm leads in the future. For these audiences, Atlys focuses on building awareness and consideration, ensuring the brand stays top of mind.

Their marketing strategy rests on three pillars: awareness, communicating the brand’s existence and offerings; assurance, to build trust for handling passports and high-value trips; and authority, positioning Atlys as a travel expert that customers can confidently rely on. By consistently nurturing these pillars, Atlys ensures that when travelers enter the market, the brand is one of the first they think of, ready to serve their needs efficiently and reliably.

Targeting the Modern Traveler: Atlys’ Media and Content Strategy

When it comes to understanding their customer base, Atlys takes a deeply data-driven approach. “About 50% of our customers are millennials and another 35% are Gen Z,” he says. “So, 85% of our audience contemporary in their outlook and digitally savvy.” Given that international travellers often fall within the top 2% of the country in terms of income and lifestyle, Atlys prioritizes digital channels with YouTube, Meta, and OTT platforms taking the lead in their marketing strategy.

But advertising alone isn’t enough. “The customer today goes to YouTube for exploration, information and want to learn everything about a country: the currency, the connectivity, the food, what to see, how to get visas,” he explains. Instagram, Reddit, and other social platforms complement this journey, offering inspiration and credibility checks. To meet this demand, Atlys has built a fully in-house team for daily content generation across geographies, ensuring their audience always has reliable, engaging information at their fingertips.

Influencers play a key role in this ecosystem as well. “We found a higher ROI in engaging with micro and nano influencers because their credibility is much higher,” he notes. These influencers share their firsthand experience of Atlys services, helping build trust organically. Overall, Atlys allocates its media mix with 40% to digital advertising, another 40% to content and influencer initiatives, and the remaining 20% to offline experiments and activations, a strategy designed to capture attention, build credibility, and convert engagement into action.

Breaking Barriers: Atlys’ One-Rupee Visa Sale Reveals New Travel Trends

Atlys recently experimented with a bold initiative they called the “one-way out sale”, aimed at eliminating the traditional barriers of visa applications. “Visas are extremely restrictive by design,” Hegde explains, “people often settle for a different country simply because the process looks ominous. It’s not about the cost, it's about the hassle.” To tackle this, Atlys offered visas for just one rupee, taking full responsibility for the application process, and the results were positive.

 The campaign generated a huge surge in new users and traffic and also revealed surprising trends in customer preferences. “We expected high demand for countries like the US, UK, and Schengen, but South Africa emerged as one of the top choices,” he noted. This highlighted the unexplored demand for certain destinations that traditional business-as-usual methods might overlook.

Another unexpected insight came from Tier II and Tier III cities such as Surat, Chandigarh, and Jaipur. “We saw significant interest from smaller cities that don’t have major international connectivity,” he shared. Interestingly, customer acquisition in these cities was often more cost-effective than in metro areas, providing a valuable lesson in tapping into overlooked markets. The one-rupee visa initiative not only drove growth but also helped Atlys uncover hidden patterns in traveller behaviour, reshaping their understanding of the Indian outbound travel landscape.

 Tapping the Long Tail: Atlys Expands Reach Beyond Metros

Atlys operates across three city segments: the top seven metros, the next 14 cities, and the rest of the country. While the top seven contribute about 50% of visa applications, the other half comes from a long tail of smaller towns and cities. “Every time we analyze this data, we end up discovering a new town,” Hegde shared, highlighting the growing aspiration for international travel across India.

Interestingly, the availability of direct flights does not always dictate demand. “People are comfortable traveling half a day to reach the nearest international airport,” he noted, thanks to Atlys’ seamless digital services. In smaller towns, where visa agents are scarce or limited, Atlys provides a convenient solution accessible directly from a smartphone. This approach not only bridges the gap for smaller regions but also enables Atlys to harvest and generate demand effectively, expanding international travel possibilities across the country.

Atlys’ Growth Journey: 2 Million Visas and Counting

In just four years, Atlys has processed nearly 2 million visas, a milestone that reflects both its ambition and operational prowess. “It’s a number that makes us proud and drives us to chase more growth,” he shares. Three factors have been key to this momentum. First, Atlys acts as a one-stop destination for travellers, providing open access, up-to-date information on visa processes across 150+ countries, even if users don’t transact directly with the platform.

Second, technology is central to Atlys’ success. The application process has been simplified for many countries, allowing travellers to upload passport scans, click photos, and receive visas directly in their inbox within hours. Innovations such as an AI-powered mock interview tool for US visas and a live stream funnel that guides users step-by-step through applications have transformed what was once a stressful process into a seamless, userfriendly experience.

 The third factor is Atlys’ predictive engine, which grows sharper with every visa processed. “With each incremental visa, we can more accurately predict processing timelines,” Hegde explains. This data-driven precision replaces traveler anxiety with clear timestamps, creating a competitive edge that new entrants would find hard to replicate. Combined, these three pillars have helped Atlys report double-digit growth last year and position itself for continued expansion, ensuring the company moves from strength to strength.

Expanding Horizons: Atlys’ Strategy for Global Coverage and DIY Adoption

Atlys is focused on broadening its reach both geographically and demographically to sustain growth. “We started with popular countries, which contribute to around 90% of India’s travel,” Hegde shares, “but increasingly, customers want to explore the unexplored obscure destinations in Africa or South America.” Expanding coverage so that any traveler can easily apply through Atlys has become a key target.

The company is also scaling internationally, with operations now in the UK, UAE, Australia, and the US. “Our international business is growing even faster than India’s because of the focus we’ve shown there,” he notes, positioning this expansion as a major revenue pillar for the future. By focusing on coverage, international growth, and DIY adoption, Atlys aims to sustain momentum and continue scaling successfully.

Finally, Atlys is working to bring more travelers into the DIY fold. Many still rely on agents, but Hegde emphasizes that “the more we make them realize that doing it yourself through services like Atlys is easier, the faster we can build a strong new user stream.”