Seattle-based travel-technology startup
Cabana
has closed a
$3.5 million seed funding round led by Craft Ventures.
Goldcrest Capital, Travis VanderZanden, CEO and founder
at Bird and Sunny Madra, vice president Ford X at Ford Motor Company also
invested in the round.
Founded in 2019, Cabana converts camper vans into what it
calls “mobile hotel rooms,” equipped with a bed and bedding, shower, toiletries,
Wi-Fi, storage, coffee maker, a 45-gallon water tank and in some units,
kitchens. Each van is intended for a driver and one passenger.
The booking, check-in and check-out, vehicle pickup and
authorization are all handled through the Cabana app. Rates are around $200 per
night.
“We have built mobile hotel rooms that are designed around
the traveler to provide both comfortable and customized accommodation and transport,”
says Scott Kubly, Cabana’s founder and CEO.
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“Trips and vacations are inclusive of two key elements - the
travel to the destination and the destination itself. We are tightly
integrating the two by providing travelers both a comfortable mobile hotel room
and unique experience that meets their needs.”
Cabana’s vans are currently available in Seattle. The
company plans to use the fund to expand its manufacturing operations so it can add
markets such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and San Diego.
Craft Ventures’ co-founder and general partner David Sacks
says, in light of COVID-19, consumers are looking for modes of travel that
allows them to control their own social distance while also letting them
embrace the wider world.
“Cabana gives people an ideal combination of freedom,
comfort and convenience,” he says.
“Despite the societal upheaval of the last few months, the
human desire to travel and explore remains unchanged. Why shelter in place when
you can shelter in paradise?”