Launchtrip, a group travel app, announced the close of a seed investment round totalling approximately $4.7M CAD, including funding raised by Axis Capital.

The Vancouver-based company has designed a platform that aims to improve the group travel experience, making the entire process of booking a trip seamless from end to end. Through its platform, a group of travellers can find accomodations, book restaurants and split costs all within one simple to use app.

Successful beta test

Launchtrip had begun piloting an early stage MVP last year before COVID-19 hit, generating just over $1M in sales, according to a statement provided by the company. “With every catalyst and problem, there comes growth. The pandemic gave us a podium that didn't exist before," said Vancouver founder and CEO Julian Ing in a statement. “Consumers want travel to come back just as badly as the hospitality space. With travel coming to a near halt, we took the opportunity to refine our product, build better strategies and bolster financing.”

The startup plans to launch an app in beta this Spring of 2021 with 200,000 hotels in seven launch cities around the United States.

Launchtrip also announced a board of advisors made of up experts in the technology and travel spaces including Taleeb Noormohamed, Michael Drever, Kathleen Reaume, Terry McBride and Mark Spencer. The board members held previous leadership roles within HomeAway (Expedia), MealPal and Tripping.com.