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El Camino Travel, the trailblazing travel brand for adventurous women, has announced the successful closing of a $1.1 million pre-seed funding round. The round was led by Slauson & Co., with participation from Trip Ventures and angel investors, including former Airbnb VP of Experiences, Joe Zadeh, CMO of Squarespace, Kinjil Mathur, and Skift CEO and Founder, Rafat Ali. This latest funding round is set to accelerate El Camino’s mission to become the first premium marketplace that connects women directly to extraordinary travel experiences.

El Camino, led by industry veterans Katalina Mayorga and Justin Bridges, started as a traditional small-group travel company but quickly saw the gap in the market for women who wanted a safe and unique travel experience. As Google searches for “solo female travel” increased by 312% in the US over the past year, El Camino’s revenue also surged by 172% from 2021 to 2022, showing that women are willing to pay a premium for quality travel curation.

Justin Bridges, CMO & Co-Founder

Katalina Mayorga, CEO and Co-founder of El Camino, said: “In a world where brands in fashion, beauty, and health cater to the needs and priorities of women, travel has yet to catch 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.”

El Camino’s current marketplace offerings include small group trips to destinations such as Morocco, Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Egypt, Bolivia, Greece, and more, with an average order value of $3,400. The company will use the funding to accelerate the development of its technology, expand its inventory to meet growing demand, and build brand awareness in the $360 billion tours and experiences sector.

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. We believe they are primed to become a formidable competitor on volume and quality of experiences to some of the biggest names in travel.”

In addition to its small group trips, El Camino offers an annual membership called the El Camino Clubhouse, which costs $99 per year and gives women travellers access to curated travel guides, unparalleled travel recommendations, a forum moderated by destination experts, and a community of like-minded travellers.

The funding will also be used to improve El Camino’s tech, which underlies its marketplace, increasing efficiency and lowering costs for the company and its operating partners. With the closing of this pre-seed funding round, El Camino Travel is well on its way to becoming the go-to travel brand for women who want unique and unforgettable travel experiences.

For more information about El Camino, visit https://www.elcamino.travel.