Gurgaon-based Deyor Adventures Pvt. Ltd, which runs and operates campsite aggregator Deyor Camps, has raised $500,000 (Rs 3.34 crore) in funding from early-stage investment firm Udaan Angel Partners and angle investors such as Nitin Passi, Manickam Mahalingam and Rajesh Arora, and Arkas Industries.
The current funding round comes three months after Tek Travels Pvt. Ltd, a Naspers-backed company which runs business-to-business portal Travel Boutique Online, bought a stake in Deyor Camps. Travel Boutique and Deyor Camps would cross-sell each other’s offerings and products, as a part of this deal.
“If adventure and travel were to marry, Deyor Camps would be the baby. It’s been a real emotional roller coaster ride, watching our baby grow up into a platform that has engaged over 10,000 travelers, spreading over 170 properties, across 55+ cities, and 200+ activitiesâ€, said Gautam Yadav, founder, Deyor Camps, in a statement.
Deyor Camps was founded by Dheeraj Jain, Chirag Gupta, Aakaar Gandhi and Yadav to tap into the increasing demand for adventure travel in the country. Its camps focus on adventure activities such as paragliding and trekking.
Jain, who is also an angel investor and partner at UK-based hedge fund Redcliffe Capital, said Deyor Camps is a technology platform, which makes booking camping trips as simple as booking a hotel room, hence, structuring a highly fragmented sector.
The startup claims to have sent 10,000 people for camping during its first quarter of operations, which started in early March. By end of 2016, Deyor Camps aims to touch more than 25,000 travellers and is looking to partner with more alternative accommodation properties.
Deyor Camps has plans of expanding into countries in South and Southeast Asia to benefit from demand for alternate accommodation.
It had also signed three-year exclusive contracts with over 100 main campsites in 45 locations.
Alternative accommodation such as campsites, homestays and paying guest accommodation are gaining traction among budget hotel aggregators. Wudstay Travels Pvt Ltd, which started as a budget hotel aggregator, recently ventured into paying guests and retirement homes segments to strengthen its portfolio.
SoftBank-backed budget hotel aggregator Oyo has started offering holiday packages while online travel agency MakeMyTrip plans to get into homestays and tented accommodation.
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