Achievement of The Year Finalist: On resilience and making difficult decisions - TourRadar's story E336

EUVC

In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses with Chris Wade, Founding Partner at Isomer Capital, and Travis Pittman, co-founder and CEO of TourRadar, one of the finalists in the Achievement of the Year category at this year’s European VC Awards.
TourRadar is an Organized Adventure Platform, offering the world’s largest selection of multi-day adventures worldwide. TourRadar’s online platform seamlessly connects travelers and travel agents with 2,500 multi-day operators, offering 50,000 adventures in more than 160 countries globally.
Travis has raised $60m of capital from Speedinvest, Hoxton Ventures, and Cherry Ventures and, in 2018, raised a C round led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV). Isomer Capital and LGT also joined this round. The company’s GMV grew to 9 figures in 2019, then 2020 started very well with all-time high monthly revenues until Feb 2020 when Covid hit revenues went negative as customers asked for their money back as they were unable to travel.
To ensure the business's survival, they made significant cuts to their workforce and reduced salaries. Travis emphasized the importance of transparency in communication during uncertain times. Despite the difficulties, TourRadar was able to recover and is now back at a revenue level above pre-COVID levels and more profitable. They have also expanded their product offerings, particularly in the payments and affiliate networks areas.
Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Background of TourRadar
10:49 Pre-COVID Success and Funding Journey
15:06 Understanding and Improving Unit Economics
23:50 Prioritizing Customer Support and Making Difficult Decisions
26:14 Adapting and Navigating Through the Crisis
36:00 Transparency and Communication in Uncertain Times
40:13 Expanding Product Offerings: Payments and Affiliate Networks
48:14 The Future of TourRadar: Mobile App Development and Search Experience
53:44 Prioritizing Mental Health and the Role of Supportive Investors