附近上门

Despite a fondness for Patagonia vests, VCs aren鈥檛 typically making deals in the wild. But entrepreneurs who look to make the outdoors more comfortable and accessible are raising quite a bit from investors.

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Consumers spend about $887 billion annually on outdoor recreation, and the industry is responsible for 7.6 million American jobs, according to an April 2017 from The Outdoor Industry Association. That鈥檚 up from $646 billion and 6.1 million jobs.

Meanwhile, North American venture investing in the outdoor space climbed five-fold from $8.9 million in 2013 to $44.82 million in 2017, according to a 附近上门 analysis of reported deals.

Last week, a string of double-digit deals in the space were announced鈥攁n indication that 2018 will be even more lucrative one for startups raising money in the space.

This month, San Francisco-based peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace brought in $25 million led by and , with participation from and . Competitor last week announced from Austin-based, whose managing partners led the first investment in vacation rental giant.

RVShare, which is based in Akron, Ohio, and has an office in Austin, was founded in 2013 after co-founder bought an RV to use for an 鈥淩V honeymoon鈥� after his wedding. Once the honeymoon was over, Jenney and his wife realized they would not have time to use the RV going forward.

鈥淏eing familiar with vacation rental websites, they figured the same must exist for RVs,鈥� noted RVShare co-founder. 鈥淲hen they found out it didn’t, we decide to build it, and the world’s first peer-to-peer RV rental platform was born. It was really a solve-your-own-problem start for the company.鈥�

The startup recently hired former HomeAway executive, who also worked briefly at , as its CEO.

Meanwhile, Missoula, Montana-based mobile apps company announced it had raised $20.3 million鈥攏early half brought in by the field as a whole all of last year. led the investment, which also included participation from ,,, and Director. 聽Over the past nine years, the startup has focused on creating interactive map-based information for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts to help them plan and navigate their excursions.

It鈥檚 safe to say the outdoor space is increasingly attracting investment from venture firms who had not previously invested in the area and who are known more for investing in 鈥渢raditional鈥� technology firms.

Venture Firms Branch Out

At least two of onX鈥檚 investors are historically more known for investing in industries such as IT, fintech, and e-commerce.

But both Summit Partners and saw enormous potential in the company鈥檚 future.

In a that originally appeared on the firm鈥檚 LinkedIn page, Summit Partners鈥� Managing Director and Principal outlined why their firm was drawn to onX.

When first introduced to onX, the pair wrote that they 鈥渋mmediately recognized a special combination of culture, product-market fit, performance, and the rare blend of self-awareness and ambition that we find in many of the world鈥檚 great bootstrapped growth companies.鈥�

Investor said her firm was impressed with the market opportunity faced by onX, which initially primarily focused on the hunting industry.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this whole world of outdoor recreational activities that include what most people don鈥檛 realize are massive spend markets, such as fishing, camping and trail sports,鈥� Khan told 附近上门 News. 鈥淥nX is slowly moving into all these verticals that need off-pavement data to exist.鈥�

Most mainstream GPS apps don鈥檛 provide off-pavement data, Khan noted.

鈥淭he map-enabled apps that most people are familiar with are urban-centric,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut onX is aggregating tons of data sources and bringing them all together into one consumer-focused sharing-enabled app.鈥�

Another of onX鈥檚 strengths, she added, is that its technology lets users track the boundaries of public and private land while creating custom maps with other information grouped into 鈥渓ayers鈥� for when they鈥檙e doing things like hunting, fishing, or hiking.

Both firms also liked the fact that onX founder and CEO didn鈥檛 just talk the talk. He is an avid hunter who knows exactly what other hunters would want in a map-enabled app.

鈥淭his is a field that the founder is passionate about,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淚 think they are in a unique competitive position as a result.鈥�

Looking ahead, Bessemer is a roadmap-driven firm and is open to more investments in the outdoor space, according to Khan.

鈥淲e spent a lot of time researching a space before deciding this was the team and app we wanted to support,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n general, there鈥檚 a lot of spend that goes into this industry and a real market need for superior data. If we can find more companies that bring robustness, strong product design, and deep expertise in the field, I鈥檓 sure we鈥檒l make more off pavement or outdoor vertical-based investments.鈥�

Growing Outdoors

OnX has been profitable since day one, its revenue has grown 100 percent year over year and it has just shy of 70 employees, according to COO and CFO. Hundreds of thousands of people use its app. So why has it decided to take its first outside investment after nine years?

鈥淚n the hunting and adjacent颅 markets, there is still so much opportunity where we can drive expansion,鈥� Spitzer told 附近上门 News. 鈥淭his capital gives us the ability to not have to let off the gas, but instead take advantage of strong ROI opportunities in a whole host of areas.鈥�

The company chose to work with a group of investors it felt would help it reach 鈥渢he next level of scale鈥� it aspired to with a combination of capital, experience, and expertise.

鈥淲e thought the outside perspectives of the firms would help us improve our game dramatically,鈥� Spitzer said.

As more people continue to look outdoors for recreation, it鈥檚 inevitable that more startups will pop up to meet their needs and more venture firms will invest in the growing space. If the first two months of this year are any indication, then 2018 could be a bigger year for venture funding than the previous few combined.

iStockPhoto / Borodatch