[Funding alert] Curated travel experiences startup Headout tops-up Series B round with $30M

New York, US, headquartered travel experiences marketplace Headout on Wednesday said it raised an additional $30 million as part of its extended Series B round led by returning investor Glade Brook Capital Partners.

This infusion takes the round size to $42 million, with the startup receiving its first round of funding in September 2021. Other investors, including Nexus Venture Partners, FJ Labs, and 500 Startups, among others, also participated in the current funding round.

In July 2018, the startup had raised its Series A round of $10 million led by Nexus Venture Partners and Version One Ventures.  

According to a statement, Headout will use the funds to cover 500 cities over the next 24 months and launch new verticals for domestic short-haul travel. At present, Headout serves 30 travel destinations globally. The company will also spend the capital to enhance technology to make real-life experiences immersive and affordable. 

Moreover, Headout will also add to employee strength, and it is evaluating acquisitions in the travel, entertainment, and Augmented Reality (AR) space.

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Founded in 2014 by Varun Khona, Suren Sultania, and Vikram Jit Singh, Headout is a mobile-first marketplace for the curated travel experience. 

“With all of the previous raise still in our bank and our consistently profitable economics, we have all the firepower we need to focus on aggressive expansion worldwide and longer-term investments to aid broader recovery of all things in real-life experiences,” said Varun Khona, Co-founder and CEO, Headout, adding that COVID-19 has only made people more restless to travel the world. 

While the pandemic impacted travel and hospitality sectors the most, Headout claims to have grown 800 percent since January 2021 by doubling down on domestic travel and local demand. The startup turned EBITDA profitable in July 2021, catering to over 10 million travellers across 190 countries. 

“Now, more than ever, people crave in-person, local travel experiences. We believe Headout is building an exceptional platform to discover and book experiences. Glade Brook is excited to strengthen our partnership with Headout as we enter a multi-year travel supercycle,” said Linda Guo, Partner at Glade Brook Capital, in a statement. 

Glade Brook Capital had also led a $12 million capital infusion, which was closed in September 2021.