Atlas Obscura raises $20M in Series B funding to expand trips and local experiences businesses.
NEW YORK — September 10, 2019 — Atlas Obscura announced a $20 million Series B financing round led by Airbnb. Other major investors included A+E Networks and New Atlantic Ventures. Atlas Obscura announced a $20 million Series B financing round led by Airbnb. In addition to the investment, the Brooklyn-based experiences and media company will partner with Airbnb to make its popular trips and local experiences available to Airbnb’s global community. Begun 10 years ago as an online database of the world’s most curious places and hidden wonders, Atlas Obscura has built a community of 7 million monthly unique visitors, 630,000 contributors, and almost a million buyers of its best-selling books.
Funding began in 2015 with a $2 million seed round secured from several strategic investors including New York Times Co. After a $2.7 million venture round in 2016, A+E Networks led a $7.5 million Series A in 2017.7 to fund video growth and expand trips and local experiences.
“Atlas Obscura’s users are hungry for incredible, authentic travel experiences, which is why we’re thrilled to have the chance to create more trips and local events for them. Our collaboration with Airbnb—and our chance to host Airbnb guests on our trips and experiences—will accelerate our growth,” said Atlas Obscura CEO David Plotz.
Atlas Obscura creates unique trips and experiences by leveraging local experts and leaders from within the Atlas Obscura community. From an authority on Eastern European brutalist architecture to an avian biologist who has spent over a decade gathering long-term nesting data on flammulated owls, Atlas Obscura offers the unique experiences travelers are seeking. Trips are kept small, usually to 12 travelers or fewer, and typically start around $1,300 per person while rarely exceeding $5,000. Local experiences are usually limited to 10 guests or fewer, and typically cost $20-$60 per person.
“Atlas Obscura has excelled at providing the kind of unique and memorable experiences that travelers are seeking and this partnership will make our companies and our community even stronger,” said Airbnb Vice President and Head of Experiences Joe Zadeh. “We can’t wait to introduce our global community to some of these amazing adventures and experiences.”
For more information about Atlas Obscura, its trips, or local experiences, visit www.atlasobscura.com.
About Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura is an experiences and media company based in Brooklyn. Founded in 2009 by Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras, Atlas Obscura has a mission to inspire wonder and curiosity about the world. As the definitive guide to the world’s hidden wonders, Atlas Obscura chronicles hidden places, incredible histories, scientific marvels, and unique food and drink. It has published two New York Times bestselling books. Atlas Obscura creates hundreds of unique global trips and local experiences every year, bringing our community with us to visit the world’s most unusual places and try the world’s most extraordinary foods. www.atlasobscura.com
