Outdoorsy, a
sharing economy startup connecting owners of recreational vehicles with
interested renters, has raised $25 million in Series B funding.
Aviva Ventures and Altos Ventures led the round, with participation from existing
investors Tandem Capital and Autotech Ventures.
Founded in
2015, Outdoorsy has created a platform that it says offers the largest bookable
inventory of RVs worldwide, creating what it calls a “third lodging category”
of mobile rooms as an alternative to hotels and home-sharing.
"More than 12% of American households own a recreational vehicle, yet
rarely use it," says Jeff Cavins, co-founder and CEO of Outdoorsy.
"At the
same time, more than 35 million consumers try to rent a recreational vehicle in
America each year with no luck. With Outdoorsy, we leveraged this global,
cross-cultural phenomenon of RV travel, especially among millennials, and
brought this multibillion-dollar RV industry online and into the sharing
economy."
Outdoorsy
says 40% of its user base is under the age of 40, driven by millennials’
interest in unique, experiential travel.
"RVs are the perfect
gateway experiences for consumers, and the rising demand for campervan and RV
travel was a growing trend in which we wanted to invest. Moving this market to
an on-demand, online sharing economy was a logical way for us to participate in
this new travel market," says Anthony Lee, managing director at Altos
Ventures.
To date, Outdoorsy
has tracked more than 263,000 days of bookings, generating nearly $100 million
through the platform.
The new
funding will be used to add staff to the company’s engineering and product
teams, expand its sales and marketing efforts and add inventory in new
markets.
Outdoorsy
currently offers vehicles from both private owners and professional agencies
and dealerships across the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It
estimates there are more than 17 million idle RVs around the world.
In addition
to the booking marketplace, Outdoorsy offers on-demand roadside assistance, commercial
insurance and other services to simplify the search and booking process.