Skift Take

Outdoorsy, an outdoor recreational vehicle marketplace, has raised $50 million in Series C funding. Plus, more travel startup funding news this week from esports brand ReKTGlobal, social trip-tracking company Polarsteps, and South Africa-based public transport data and technology startup WhereIsMyTransport.

Series: Startups This Week

Travel Startup Funding This Week

Each week we round up travel startups that have recently received or announced funding. Please email Travel Tech Reporter Justin Dawes at [email protected] if you have funding news.

This week travel startups announced more than $66 million in funding.

>>Outdoorsy, an outdoor recreation booking site and mobile app, has received $50 million in Series C funding. The startup has raised about $75 million to date.

Greenspring Associates led the round. Aviva Ventures, Altos Ventures, AutoTech Ventures, and Tandem Capital also participated.

Consumers can use Outdoorsy, based in Austin, Texas, to rent recreational vehicles (RVs) and campervans, in eight countries where it serves as a peer-to-peer and professional fleet management platform. It offers listings for more than 31,000 vehicles available for rent, the company claimed.

For more on the trend, see our recent deep dive How Driving Defines Us: The Future of American Road Trips.

>>Rogue Esports, an electronic sports company owned by ReKTGlobal, has raised $10.8 million in Series A funding, its total publicized since its founding in 2016.

Nick Gross, founder of Gross Labs, led the round in the company, which creates competitive gaming events in its hometown of Las Vegas and fields teams elsewhere.

Nearly a billion people will watch esports this year, as we noted in this recent article on meetings and esports.

>>Polarsteps, a trip-tracking app, has raised $3.4 million (€3 million) in Series A funding.

INKEF Capital led the round in the Amsterdam-based company, which has now raised about $5.3 million (€4.6 million) since its launch in 2015.

The company said 1 million registered users have used its app. Users of the Polarsteps app can agree to have it automatically track their trip. The app’s tracking works when users are offline. It does this by making educated guesses about the trip journey in-between the time the device is able to connect online. The visual content from the trip can then be shared by default with family members.

>>WhereIsMyTransport, a South Africa-based public transport data and technology startup, has raised $1.85 million.

Liil Ventures led the round. Past investor Goodwell Investments also participated. The startup has raised about $5.8 million to date.

The company offers digital maps of formal and informal public transport networks in 30 destinations in emerging markets that are not well covered by major platform providers like Google and Apple, the company said.

Skift Cheat Sheet:
We define a startup as a company formed to test and build a repeatable and scalable business model. Few companies meet that definition. The rare ones that do often attract venture capital. Their funding rounds come in waves.
Seed capital is money used to start a business, often led by angel investors and friends or family.
Series A financing is typically drawn from venture capitalists. The round aims to help a startup’s founders make sure that their product is something that customers truly want to buy.
Series B financing is mainly about venture capitalist firms helping a company grow faster, or scale up. These fundraising rounds can assist with recruiting skilled workers and developing cost-effective marketing.
Series C financing is ordinarily about helping a company expand, such as through acquisitions. In addition to VCs, hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity firms often participate.
Series D, E and beyond These mainly mature businesses and the funding round may help a company prepare to go public or be acquired. A variety of types of private investors might participate.
Check out our previous startup funding roundups, here.

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Tags: funding, startups, vcroundup

Photo credit: Here are some sample camper vans that represent the types that can be booked through Outdoorsy, an online booking site and community for recreational vehicle lovers. Outdoorsy

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