Thatch Raises $3 Million So Travel Vloggers Can Get Paid

Thatch, a startup enabling travel vloggers to share their recommendations with viewers — and earn money in the process — has raised $3 million.

The seed round was led by Wave Capital and featured participation from Freestyle VC’s Jenny Lefcourt and Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph. Thatch, founded in 2018, has raised $5.2 million to date, Techcrunch reports.

Thatch launched as a subscription service to match travelers with trip planners, but pivoted to become more influencer-focused in 2020, per Techcrunch, after the pandemic dented the travel industry.

It currently exists as a free mobile app where creators are able to curate, share, and sell interactive travel guides and planning services. Thatch will monetize by taking a small percentage of each transaction. The company says that the creators on its platform — including Drew Binsky

, Noel Russell, and the Rio Travelers — count a collective 12 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.

“Increasingly, instead of going to travel agencies, [people] are going to Instagram or YouTube and then DMing [influencers] for information,” Thatch co-founder Abby West told Techcrunch. “We are formalizing that relationship so that the travel creator can get paid and can then provide a better experience for the end user.”

Thatch is harnessing funds for marketing, in order to attract more creators to the platform, as well as to hire engineers and build out new features for monetizing its aforementioned guides.