El Camino, a startup founded by a Colombian-American, raises $1.1M Pre-Seed to be the travel industry’s first experiential marketplace for women

While the fashion, beauty, and health industries have been quick to cater to the diverse needs and priorities of women, the travel industry has fallen behind. Despite the fact that women travelers are the fastest-growing segment in the industry, they have long been disregarded by major players. Now, one travel startup is aiming to change that and usher in a new era of experiential travel that is personalized, inclusive, and inspiring.

Enter El Camino, a Washington, DC-based travel startup and the travel industry’s first experiential marketplace that offers a variety of unforgettable experience travel options for women.

Led by industry veteran and Colombian-American founder Katalina Mayorga, and Justin Bridges, El Camino originally started as a traditional small-group travel company, but over the years saw first-hand the growing pain points of women travelers who prioritized safety and valued unique immersive experiences but lacked credible options when booking.

To further take its platform to the next level, El Camino Travel (El Camino) announced today it has closed a $1.1 Million pre-seed funding round led by Slauson & Co. with participation from Trip Ventures. Other backers included angel backers Joe Zadeh, former VP of Experiences at Airbnb; Kinjil Mathur, CMO of Squarespace and Rafat Ali, Founder and CEO of Skift.

The fresh cash infusion will primarily be used to accelerate the development of the underlying technology of the company’s marketplace which dramatically increases efficiency and lowers costs for El Camino as well as its operating partners. In addition, the company will be able to expand its inventory to keep up with the growing demand for its small-group trips.

Generating millions in revenue since launch, the funding proceeds will be used to accelerate El Camino’s technology build, brand awareness in the $360B tours and experiences sector of the industry, and its mission to be the first premium marketplace for women travelers that connects them directly to exceptional experiences.

As Google searches for ‘solo female travel’ in the US grew by 312% over the past 12 months in 2022, El Camino’s revenue grew by 172% from 2021 to 2022 proving women will pay a premium for quality curation. In just a short time, Mayorga has led El Camino to become one of the fastest-growing experiential marketplaces and subscription services that empower women to travel boldly while modernizing the archaic small-group travel sector.

“In a world full of brands in fashion, beauty, and health that cater to the needs and priorities of women – travel has yet to keep up. Women travelers have long been ignored by industry giants even though they are the fastest-growing segment. They deserve more. We are laser focused on delivering them the first high-quality and trusted experiential marketplace that always keeps them top of mind as a customer and makes it easy to book completely unique travel experiences that they would not be able to find on their own. Most importantly, they will no longer have to sacrifice the quality of their travel experience because of their gender,” shares Katalina Mayorga, CEO and Co-founder of El Camino.

El Camino’s current marketplace offerings include small group trips to destinations like Morocco, Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Egypt, Bolivia, Greece, and others, with an average order value of $3,400. By starting with small group tours, they were able to strategically address many of women’s pain points in one purchase, fill a gap in the market for highly curated multi-day trips, and develop a framework with tour operators that could be applied to new destinations for faster growth.

Women travelers who are unable to join a trip, but are still looking for inspiration and support can turn to the El Camino Clubhouse, an annual membership that costs $99 a year and gives them access to unparalleled travel recommendations, curated travel guides, a forum moderated by the world’s best destination experts, and a community of like-minded travelers.

Commenting on the funding, Austin Clements, Co-Founder of Slauson & Co. and El Camino investor said: “What got us excited about El Camino is the way they are finding the best travel experiences that consider the needs and preferences of half of the world’s population – women. Their success in building an incredible brand that has stood out in a crowded space, and their years of experience with their customers and travel partners uniquely position them to modernize and scale a sector prime for major growth. We believe they are primed to become a formidable competitor on volume and quality of experiences to some of the biggest names in travel.”