Headout raises $12 million in Series B round led by Glade Brook Capital

Glade Brook Capital led a $12 million Series B funding round for Headout, an online experiences marketplace. According to a senior business executive, existing investors Version One Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, FJ Labs, 500 Startups, Haystack, and Ludlow Ventures, as well as new investors Espresso Capital and Practical VC, participated in the round.

Headout raises $12 million in Series B round led by Glade Brook Capital

"We were generating revenue at a rate of more than $200 million per year. Our growth has been remarkable since January of this year, and we are already 8 times our January figures. Varun Khona, co-founder and CEO of Headout, said, "We turned Ebitda profitable in July."

"Our expansion to 300 cities across the country will fuel this growth," Khona told ET.

Headout, based in New York, was founded in 2014 by Khona (CEO), Suren Sultania (COO), and Vikram Jit Singh (CTO) to assist roughly nine million customers from 190 countries with their personalised travel plans across 30+ locations.

Unlike other aggregators, Headout uses technology and its operational know-how to actively standardise, enhance, and select experiences given by its partners throughout the world as a managed and mobile-first marketplace of experiences.

With the travel recovery gaining traction, the company has seen a surge in domestic and local travel demand, which was previously a niche market.

"Covid reset the counters effectively, and Headout is currently leading the recovery charge," Khona said.

The funds will be used to help the company develop cutting-edge solutions for travellers' post-pandemic needs, as well as to invest in the company's business, marketing, and operations teams.

Headout is expanding its workforce by over 150 people around the world. It's also looking to employ businesses focused on tourism, entertainment, and augmented reality to help determine its future strategy.

“With this round and our profitability milestone behind us, our whole emphasis is on expansion and long-term investments to help the travel industry recover,” Khona continued.

"Given the limited internet penetration for travel experiences, we see a huge opportunity for Headout to digitize the industry, especially in the post-Covid recovery period," Linda Guo, partner at Glade Brook Capital, said.