In a move that heralds an imminent disruption within the high-potential adventure travel industry, angel investors from Venture Catalysts, Indian seed investment and innovation platform, have led the pre-Series A funding of Deyor Camps, an adventure travel start-up. Existing investor Dheeraj Jain, who has been actively involved in the strategic growth of the company since it started its operations in January 2016, also participated in the round, which also saw participation from other prominent investors such as Dr. Ritesh Malik and Japanese VC firm REAPRA Ventures.
Founded by Chirag Gupta, Aakaar Gandhi, Himashu Aggarwal, and Gautam Yadav, Deyor Camps is India’s largest supplier for alternative accommodation and adventure activities. Deyor Camps will utilise the funds raised to strengthen its core marketing activity, team building, and technology integration. It will also be developing quality content, in addition to enhancing its core expertise of creating thrilling experiences for adventure travellers. Deyor Camps had earlier been chosen for strategic investment by Naspers-backed Travel Boutique Online (TBO), the largest B2B platform for travel agents, which allows it access to a network of more than 20,000 travel agents.
Ankush Nijhawan, Co-founder, TBO Group said, "We are glad to be part of the journey of Deyor Camps which we believe will complement TBO travel portfolio and distribute adventure travel to our large travel agent network."
Speaking on the investment, Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President, Venture Catalysts, said, “As India’s first and only chain of branded adventure camps and accessories, Deyor Camps has addressed the most painful challenges on the supply side by creating a robust distribution channel as well as through strong OTA integrations and networking.It also has a very strong and focussed founding, and is well positioned to take advantage of the exponential growth in the demand for adventure travel as a category leader. Having invested in this high-potential venture, we will now be eagerly tracking its market growth and supporting its operations with our specialised start-up focussed services. We will also be looking to invest in more promising start-ups going forward, as we set about achieving our vision of establishing India as the start-up capital of the world.”
Chirag Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, Deyor Camps, commented, “The latest investment gives us the resources to expand quickly and strategically into new locations, innovate rapidly, and deliver on our vision to organize the fragmented adventure travel sector in India. With such illustrious investors on board, we are confident of achieving greater growth and scale in the days to come. We have diluted 5% of our equity to raise investment in this round.”
Vikram Bharati, Head of Investments at REAPRA Ventures, added, "The team at Deyor Camps is bold in its vision and passionate about what it does. It is creating and fostering a new industry. We believe that when you take a bunch of young and smart individuals who are passionate about a cause and who don't care about traditional norms, magic can be created. Deyor Camps envisions inspiring young people to travel and experience the depth and breadth of India through camping. We think this is an admirable vision and we see this being backed up with a solid business model. REAPRA is keen to support a team with a vision and plan like this."
The latest investment into Deyor Camps underlines VCats’ intention of tapping into and revitalising the burgeoning Indian adventure travel segment, which is currently estimated to be worth INR 3200 crore and is growing at a CAGR of 45%. Venture Catalysts has previously facilitated early-stage investments cumulatively worth $5 Million into promising ventures such as DSYH, Beardo, FYND and CoutLoot in order to boost the country’s start-up landscape and nurture promising Indian businesses for global success.
Founded by Chirag Gupta, Aakaar Gandhi, Himashu Aggarwal, and Gautam Yadav, Deyor Camps is India’s largest supplier for alternative accommodation and adventure activities. Deyor Camps will utilise the funds raised to strengthen its core marketing activity, team building, and technology integration. It will also be developing quality content, in addition to enhancing its core expertise of creating thrilling experiences for adventure travellers. Deyor Camps had earlier been chosen for strategic investment by Naspers-backed Travel Boutique Online (TBO), the largest B2B platform for travel agents, which allows it access to a network of more than 20,000 travel agents.
Ankush Nijhawan, Co-founder, TBO Group said, "We are glad to be part of the journey of Deyor Camps which we believe will complement TBO travel portfolio and distribute adventure travel to our large travel agent network."
Speaking on the investment, Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President, Venture Catalysts, said, “As India’s first and only chain of branded adventure camps and accessories, Deyor Camps has addressed the most painful challenges on the supply side by creating a robust distribution channel as well as through strong OTA integrations and networking.It also has a very strong and focussed founding, and is well positioned to take advantage of the exponential growth in the demand for adventure travel as a category leader. Having invested in this high-potential venture, we will now be eagerly tracking its market growth and supporting its operations with our specialised start-up focussed services. We will also be looking to invest in more promising start-ups going forward, as we set about achieving our vision of establishing India as the start-up capital of the world.”
Chirag Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, Deyor Camps, commented, “The latest investment gives us the resources to expand quickly and strategically into new locations, innovate rapidly, and deliver on our vision to organize the fragmented adventure travel sector in India. With such illustrious investors on board, we are confident of achieving greater growth and scale in the days to come. We have diluted 5% of our equity to raise investment in this round.”
Vikram Bharati, Head of Investments at REAPRA Ventures, added, "The team at Deyor Camps is bold in its vision and passionate about what it does. It is creating and fostering a new industry. We believe that when you take a bunch of young and smart individuals who are passionate about a cause and who don't care about traditional norms, magic can be created. Deyor Camps envisions inspiring young people to travel and experience the depth and breadth of India through camping. We think this is an admirable vision and we see this being backed up with a solid business model. REAPRA is keen to support a team with a vision and plan like this."
The latest investment into Deyor Camps underlines VCats’ intention of tapping into and revitalising the burgeoning Indian adventure travel segment, which is currently estimated to be worth INR 3200 crore and is growing at a CAGR of 45%. Venture Catalysts has previously facilitated early-stage investments cumulatively worth $5 Million into promising ventures such as DSYH, Beardo, FYND and CoutLoot in order to boost the country’s start-up landscape and nurture promising Indian businesses for global success.
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