Cabana, a travel-tech startup that launched just last year and claims to be reinventing how modern travelers get out and explore through its luxe mobile hotel experience, has secured $10 million in Series A financing. Craft Ventures and Goldcrest Capital led the funding round and are excited to continue working with Cabana as the company launches into its next stage of growth. Launch, Castor Ventures, Gaingels, Nordic Eye, and other strategic angels and syndicates joined the round as well.
This most recent round of financing brings the company’s total capital investment to $15 million.
“Cabana’s growth during the pandemic proves the increasing consumer shift away from traditional modes of travel,” said David Sacks, co-founder and general partner of Craft. “We look forward to seeing Cabana expand into new markets and enhance its superior fleet of upscale, affordable mobile hotels.”
Interest in vanlife is surging as evidenced by the 10.2M Instagram posts containing “hashtag-vanlife,” with 3.4 million posts just since the start of the pandemic. Cabana said it is “capitalizing on this interest and bringing the experience to travelers who are interested in an adventurous, flexible, and frictionless option while still having access to more upscale amenities in a way that no one else in the industry has accomplished.”
Paul English, founder and CTO of Lola.com and co-founder of Kayak. feels strongly about Cabana’s stance in the industry. “Cabana is leading the thinking behind how Americans will vacation today and in the future. Their custom ‘hotel on wheels’ gives travelers the best of both worlds, a comfortable modern stay and the freedom of the road,” English said. “It’s the best experience to get a taste of both the city and its surrounding outdoor beauty.”
In the 6,700-plus nights booked in Cabana vans since its launch, nearly 70 percent of customers had never used an RV or campervan before and 92 percent of customers planned to book again.
“Cabana is sold out for a reason: it’s an amazing product at a great price,” said Jason Calacanis, founder of LAUNCH and TheSyndicate.com. “It reminds me of the early days of Uber when people couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful the experience was!”
Cabana has expanded its locations from the Seattle market to Los Angeles, growing its fleet size to 35 vans, and now has an employee base of over 15 individuals to support operations. Between launching special holiday packages, running giveaways, and testing various offerings, the team quickly realized that many of its guests resonated with Cabana’s itineraries, prompting the launch of Cabana Concierge — a custom itinerary service provided to customers for no additional cost, curated from a questionnaire filled in with the traveler’s preferences.
“This new round of funding allows us to significantly grow and evolve the Cabana platform, focusing on building out hardware, software, and infrastructure beyond what we’ve created to date,” said Scott Kubly, Cabana founder and CEO. “We launched during the pandemic when non-traditional travel exploded in popularity, giving us a solid foundation to build from and the ability to test various things and get insights from our customers – all extremely valuable to us as a startup – and are looking at expanding the Cabana experience beyond the van itself.”
Cabana plans to use the funds from this latest round to expand in new markets that have already expressed significant demand. Additionally, over 100 Cabana vehicles will be added to the fleet, with plans to launch a four-passenger van that will allow families with young children, or groups of close friends, to enjoy the Cabana experience.