Over the past year, the global travel industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with widespread travel restrictions and a decrease in consumer demand leading to a significant drop in tourism. This has also had a major impact on the world of travel blogging, with many bloggers finding it difficult to continue their travels and document their experiences for their followers.
Before the pandemic, travel blogging was a popular and lucrative activity for many people. Bloggers would travel to different destinations, document their experiences through writing, photography, and video, and share their content on social media and their own websites. Some bloggers even turned their passion for travel into a full-time career, working with travel brands and creating sponsored content.
However, with the onset of the pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions, many bloggers found themselves unable to continue their travels as they had before. Many were forced to cancel their plans...
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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!