Think Bigger Capital Invests €100K in Atravo for All-In-One Booking Management Software

How much traction is enough evidence for investors to ensure that your startup is going places? For Atravo, traction has been the one metric to “rule them all”. Their all-in-one booking management software solution has only been in the market for three months and it’s already climbing the investment ladder swiftly and steadily looking at a €100K pre-seed round led by Think Bigger Capital. Atravo is currently gearing up its funding strategy towards taking their project forward and strengthening core business areas. 

Q: Tell us about your startup | give us your elevator pitch.

Atravo is the one-stop platform empowering autonomous growth of tour, activity and hotel operators. Everything you need to make bookings online in one place, from web building, to bookings management, and marketing tools. And most importantly, without having to dilute your brand and pay commissions through third party marketplaces. In other words, we are the travel industry Shopify. 

Q: Tell us a little bit about the founding team. How come you started in Demium and how has the incubation programme experience been so far? 

Our team was formed during the all-start-up weekend. In fact we all met during the introductory speed-dating activity and (straight away) we all knew right off the bat we wanted to work together. We managed to build a perfect team; Brent Warner, our CPO, has 8 years experience in Marketing, eCommerce and UX design; our CTO David Macro, has over 10 years experience in tech, leading teams in large companies including Volvo; and Katrina Affleck, our CEO, has over 8 years experience in the travel industry, including 4 years as a company owner. 

Q: What are the key metrics / what early traction has Atravo achieved? 

Atravo is only 3 months-old, and we are already working at a fast pace expanding our start-up. We have built our MVP, and have earned 20 sign-ups on the platform, without any marketing at all. We are now working on improving the site and releasing ads to gather early-bird beta testers. We are launching the first ever Off-Fitur-event in partnership with Demium. This is a one day event during the International Tourism Fair in May 2021. Atravo will participate in round tables with some of the travel industry leaders on Distributive Technology and the future of Travel.

Q: What was it like raising a round for the first time? 

We think the investors saw in us the merit of a strong, multi-disciplinary team that is focused and dedicated to creating a fast-paced, disruptive start-up. There is a clear gap in the market dominated by third party players, which comes to show the glaring need to build support for independent travel businesses. Our solution fits the bill. 

Q: What will you focus your initial funding on? 

We are focusing our initial funding on building a strong team to take the project forward, while developing two main core-business areas: technology and marketing. 

Q: What advice would you offer other entrepreneurs looking for first round funding? 

To have a pitch deck with a clear, simple message that gets the key points across; investors are looking to concisely comprehend the benefits of your product and the pain points of your customers, so focus your message on that. Also, it’s easy to get tied up with thinking and planning rather than getting things done: promote a working culture of action over brainstorming. And last but not least, an easy-to-understand business model goes a long way.

Q: What role did Demium play in your first investment round? 

Demium helped us evolve from being individuals with passion, to creating a business and finding funds. They played a vital role in getting our team together thanks to their AllStartup weekend, and mentored us on the way to success with the Investment committee. We want to extend special thanks to the Barcelona team - Bruno, Rafa, Nina, Manu and Alvaro - for their priceless support and mentorship.