Gurgaon-based Deyor Adventures Pvt. Ltd, which runs and operates campsite aggregator Deyor Camps, has raised pre-Series A funding from Mumbai-based seed investment platform Venture Catalysts and Japanese venture capital firm REAPRA Ventures.
Angel investor Ritesh Malik and existing investor Dheeraj Jain also participated in the round. The startup has diluted 5% of its equity to raise investment in this round, a company statement said.
The startup will use the funds to strengthen its core marketing activity, build the team, integrate technology and develop content. It will also use the capital to enhance its core expertise of creating adventure experiences for travellers, the press note added.
“The latest investment gives us the resources to expand quickly and strategically into new locations, innovate rapidly, and deliver on our vision to organise the fragmented adventure travel sector in India,†said Chirag Gupta, co-founder and chief executive of Deyor Camps.
Founded by Gupta, Aakaar Gandhi, Himashu Aggarwal, and Gautam Yadav, Deyor Camps provides alternative accommodation like tents, mud cottages, tree houses, and houseboats and adventure activities like scuba diving, paragliding, paramotoring, river rafting, and more. The startup claims to have integrations with over 72 online travel agencies like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Booking.com and Agoda. It currently has 600 alternative accommodation sites and 1,000 adventure activity vendors on its website.
Deyor Camps is also serves institutions like schools, colleges and corporates and has organised travel trips with University of Delhi, Tata Teleservices, MDI Gurgaon and XLRI.
It will first consolidate the fragmented market in India and has robust plans for expansion in South East Asia and South and East Africa by 2018, the statement said.
In October last year, the company had raised $500,000 (Rs 3.34 crore) from early-stage investment firm Udaan Angel Partners and angel investors such as Nitin Passi, Manickam Mahalingam and Rajesh Arora, and Arkas Industries.
In July 2016, Tek Travels Pvt Ltd, a Naspers-backed company that runs business-to-business portal Travel Boutique Online, had bought a stake in Deyor Camps. They now cross-sell each other’s offerings and products, as per the deal.
Jain is an active angel investor with over 20 angel investments. Besides, Deyor Camps, his portfolio includes online wedding planner Shaadisaga, online pharmacy LifCare, HR analytics tools inFeedo, ed-tech startup Mappr, fast food chain Burger Singh, branded workspace aggregator Qdesq, self-drive car rental aggregator JustRide, and packaged food startup Yumlane.
Venture Catalysts’ most recent investments are fashion portal Fynd, co-working space Innov8, groceries startup Supr Daily, and automobile servicing platform GoMechanic.
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, had ventured into paying guests and retirement homes segments to strengthen its portfolio.