El Camino Travel, a Washington,
D.C.-based group travel company, has raised $1.1 million in pre-seed funding as
it shifts to focus on becoming an experiential marketplace for women travelers.
Founded in 2014, the company’s
funding is led by Slauson & Co. with participation from Trip Ventures and
several angel investors including former Airbnb vice president of experiences
Joe Zadeh.
El Camino Travel says it will
use the funding to further develop its technology and build awareness of its
brand as a “premium marketplace for women travelers that connects them directly
to exceptional experiences.”
“In
a world full of brands in fashion, beauty, and health that cater to the needs
and priorities of women – travel has yet to keep up,” says Katalina Mayorga,
co-founder and CEO of El Camino.
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“Women
travelers have long been ignored by industry giants even though they are the
fastest-growing segment. They deserve more. We are laser focused on delivering
them the first high-quality and trusted experiential marketplace that always
keeps them top of mind as a customer and makes it easy to book completely
unique travel experiences that they would not be able to find on their own.
Most importantly, they will no longer have to sacrifice the quality of their
travel experience because of their gender.”
The company says its current
offerings include small group trips to places such as Morocco, Guatemala, Egypt
and Greece, with an average order value of $3,400.
El Camino partners with
destination management companies and also provides its technology to operators.
“While
online travel operators traditionally provide their partners with the ability
to manage inventory, El Camino is focused on managing their time,” Mayorga
says.
“Our tech stack is designed to
automate and streamline 90% of the tasks that are consuming precious manual
hours that could be better spent nurturing our customer experience and meeting
new demand. Productizing the years of workarounds and limited third-party
resources will create a custom solution for the unique needs of the small group
travel sector."
The company also offers a
membership program called El Camino Clubhouse for $99 per year that gives subscribers
access to travel recommendations and guides and a community forum.
“What
got us excited about El Camino is the way they are finding the best travel
experiences that consider the needs and preferences of half of the world’s
population – women,” says Austin Clements, co-founder of Slauson & Co.
“Their
success in building an incredible brand that has stood out in a crowded space,
and their years of experience with their customers and travel partners uniquely
position them to modernize and scale a sector prime for major growth. We
believe they are primed to become a formidable competitor on volume and quality
of experiences to some of the biggest names in travel.”