WeRoad Eyes U.S. Adventure Tours Market After $19 Million Raise

WeRoad, a European-based tour operator, has secured €18 million ($19.6 million) in a Series-B funding round led by H14, bringing its total raised capital to €36 million ($39.3 million).

Headquartered in Milan, WeRoad will look to consolidate its focus on millennial group adventure travel in Europe before expanding to the U.S. and other English-speaking markets. This year, the company expanded to France and Germany, adding to its presence in Spain and the UK.

WeRoad tours see people from similar age groups travel together (25-30 year and 30-49 years) led by travel coordinators who are fellow travelers selected as group leaders after a vetting and approval process. These travel coordinators can apply to create custom itineraries, which are then sold as WeRoad-branded trips on its WeRoad X marketplace.

The company said the marketplace will see further development and a WeRoad X app to connect travel coordinators and suppliers like destination marketing companies through "off-travel" meetups and events.

Riccardo Porcelli, head of digital investments at H14, called WeRoad's development of its community and platform "resilient, especially among millennials."

"In just five years, and despite a global pandemic, we've managed to capture the group adventure travel market," said WeRoad CEO Andrea D' Amico.

D'Amico added that the company had doubled its turnover and increased its community of travel coordinators in Europe from 1,200 to 2,500 over the past 12 months.