Understory, a startup that brings automation to experience providers, has raised €12 million in Series A funding.
The investment in the Denmark-based company which offers booking, payments and marketing tools via its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform, was led by Smedvig Ventures. New investors People Ventures and Sequel also participated in the round alongside existing investors Seed Capital and Firstminute Capital.
The funds will go towards accelerating the company's growth in the experiences market, a segment which McKinsey & Company estimates is worth more than $3 trillion.
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“We are incredibly proud. This is an important recognition of the work we have put in over the past few years and of the vision we are pursuing. The investment gives us the opportunity to take Understory to the next level. Let there be no doubt: our ambition is to revolutionize the experience industry,” said Lasse Kjær, co-founder and CEO.
"By entering new markets, even more experience providers will gain access to our tools so they can attract more guests, open new revenue streams and focus on what matters most: delivering unforgettable experiences,” he said.
Kjær also said that the investment would enable Understory to further develop our product and infrastructure.
Jonathan Lerner, partner at Smedvig Ventures, described Understory as having a "clear vision and a product that is only at the beginning of its journey to enable experience providers globally."
Kjær and co-founder Lars Rasmussen previously founded Truestory, an experiences portal in the Nordics.
Understory is a rebranding of Holdbar, which raised $1 million in early 2022. Kjær said the rebrand was to better position the company for more markets.