YouTravel.Me is the latest startup to snag some venture capital dollars as the travel industry bounces back on its feet amid the global pandemic.
Last month, companies like Thatch raised $ 3 million for its travel designer platform, travel technology company Hopper raised $ 175 million, Wheel the World raised $ 2 million for its disabled-friendly vacation planner, and Elude raised $ 2.1 million Bringing spontaneous travel back to a hard-hit industry, and Wanderlog bagged $ 1.5 million for its free travel route platform.
Today, YouTravel.Me joins them after raising $ 1 million to further develop its online platform designed to bring like-minded travelers together with small-group adventures organized by travel experts. Starta VC led the round and was supported by Liqvest.com, Mission Gate and a group of individual investors such as Bas Godska, General Partner at Acrobator Ventures.
Olga Bortnikova, her husband Ivan Bortnikov and Ivan Mikheev founded the company in Europe three years ago. The idea for the company came to Bortnikova and Bortnikov when a trip to China went wrong after a tour operator sold them a package that turned out to be trips to souvenir shops. One flight delayed and other mishaps along the way, and the couple were looking for a better travel experience and a way to share it with others. When they couldn’t find what they were looking for, they decided to create it themselves.
“It’s hard for adults to make friends, but when you’re in a group with only 15 people on a two-week trip, you build a deep connection, share the same language and experiences,” Bortnikova told ProWellTech. “This is our secret sauce – we want to make a connection.”
Similar to a dating app, YouTravel.Me’s algorithms connect travelers based on their interests, values, and previous experiences with trips and short breaks. Matching people can connect with anyone via chat or voice, work with a travel professional, and complete their reservations. They also have a BeGuide offering for travel experts to do research and create itineraries.
According to CEO Bortnikova, YouTravel.Me has developed into the leading travel marketplace in Eastern Europe since 2018, offering more than 15,900 tours in 130 countries and attracting over 10,000 travelers and 4,200 travel experts to the platform. It started expanding to international sales in 2020 when the global pandemic broke out.
“Sales and tourism collapsed and we didn’t know what to do,” she said. “We realized that we have 4,000+ travel experts on our website and we feel lonely because the pandemic was a test for the industry. We understood that and developed a community and an educational product for them on how to build and scale their business. “
After a McKinsey study showed that adventure travel recovered faster than other sectors of the industry, the founders decided to enter this market and join 500 startups by the end of 2020. As a result, YouTravel.Me doubled its sales while it was still a Bootstravel company. but wanted to enter the North American market.
The new funds will be used for marketing in the United States to hire and attract more travel professionals, technology and product development, and to increase gross merchandise value to $ 2.7 million per month by the end of 2021, Bortnikov said. The aim is to increase the number of trips to 20,000 and the travel experts to 6,000 by the beginning of next year.
Godska, also an angel investor, found out about YouTravel.Me from a mutual friend. Coincidentally, at the same time he was vacationing in Sri Lanka, where he was one of the few tourists. Godska previously worked in the online travel space in Europe and Russia as part of Orbitz, selling travel packages before setting up a venture capital fund.
“I was sitting in the jungle with a bad internet connection and that piqued my interest,” he said. “When I talked to them, I felt the innovation and this bright atmosphere as they do this. I was immediately drawn to supporting them. The whole curated thing is a very interesting move. Independent travelers who want to travel in groups are not very affected by the traditional sector. “
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