I'm Angie, a Malaysian living in Singapore, and I love Southeast Asia so much!
Even if I have only visited 6 of the 11 countries here. Perhaps being a small-town girl transitioned into a big-city woman gave me an opportunity to experience the regional charms from natural forest to concrete jungle, and the easy access to the local food culture put me right at home no matter where I go.
Over the past few years, I had the chance to meet a few long-term travellers from beyond, touring Southeast Asia. Often they would tell me that their favourite part about the region is the less touristy places, where they could put themselves right into the local experiences. I almost get what they mean - when I was researching for a Bali trip, I was so sick of repetitive contents about the same destinations and sights that I decided to forget about it, rented a scooter, and went about with my own exploration and schedule. Best decision ever made.
Bali aside, I began to think: what about everywhere ...
+ 359 others joined this month
Comments
My name is Maria Ortiz and I am CEO of TERRA STUDY, a marketplace for language courses abroad and Student Services. I am looking for networking, intro and investments for my platform already with the revenue of 500,000 euros. Thank you for sharing your ideas and contacts!
HI Maria,
Great question. Here's a few travel investment firms that I know of who operate in Europe, off the top of my head:
Journey Partners: www.journey.partners
HOWZAT Partners: www.howzatpartners.com
Speed Invest: www.speedinvest.com
US-based but also looking in EU:
VC Travel (US and Barcelona): www.vctravel.com
Ground Control: www.groundcontrolhq.com (DM me if you want to pitch here)
Accelerators (some may offer investment):
Intelak: intelak.com
Techstars: www.techstars.com
Travelport Accelerator: www.travelport.com/accelerator
Hope that helps, and that other members can contribute to this list! :)
Dear Ian! thank you very much for your answers and links!!! I will have a look these days and will send you my feedback! Thank you!
Glad to help! Also please add any investors / accelerators you've come across, as this discussion thread might be helpful to other startups with similar needs.
YEs, of course, and if we also can help after with intro, will be happy to help!!!!!
Hi Maria, sorry I'm late to the thread on this. I'm based in Barcelona and have a background in travel tech and investing as well as running businesses in the space. Happy to catch up over a coffee or lunch to act as a sounding board. Shoot me a DM and we can find a day that works. Cheers Sam
Hi Sam! thank you! I can DM only if you follow me. Rules of TM)
My email is maria.ortiz@terrastudy.com just in case it will be easier to arrange some kind of zoom/Skype coffee and chat. I am based in Madrid:)
Maria,
Fantastic info from Ian here.
What you'll often find is that most consumer VC brands have at least one travel company in their portfolio as well, so don't be afraid to try regular VC's.
I see the company is already 11 years old, so you would need to create a solid argument as to "why now?" for that investment, and show that you are getting the kind of impressive growth rates that perhaps younger startups are getting. It's also an incredibly competitive sphere that you are in, so be very clear on how you are different from all of your competition and how that difference is protectable.
Finally, whilst I recognise that students do travel for courses, I wonder is the bigger spend actually on the course rather than the travel. For this reason I would also consider EdTech investors of which there are a significantly higher number such as Bisk Ventures, Brighteye Ventures, Owl Ventures, LearnLaunch, GGV, Reach Capital, Emerge Education and many, many more.
Best of luck with your process!
Brian.
Hi Brian!
Thank you very much for your answer and advice.
Indeed, I am also analyzing Ian's links, others that I have also searched on Linkedin and in Referent, and there are many funds and business angels who work in Tourism or Ed Tech.
We are in the middle of Ed, Travel and teca, and we see it as an advantage.
Three points that you mention are very important and yes, we have these answers in our deck, it is the logic of the development of the company, moving from one country to another, change of business model.
I will analyze the funds that you have also shared, thank you very much! And without fail I will give my feedback to you guys!
Have a lovely weekend, guys!