Airbnb spearheads a $58 million Series C funding round for WeRoad and appoints its CEO to manage its hotel operations.

      The Milan-based group travel platform WeRoad has secured a $58 million Series C funding round led by Airbnb, which has also acquired a 10% stake and a seat on the board. Andrea D’Amico, who has served as CEO since 2022, is departing from WeRoad to assume leadership of Airbnb’s hotels division. The funding was announced on Wednesday by TechCrunch and Skift.

      This investment structure is notable for Airbnb, which has traditionally expanded its Experiences and tours business organically instead of through equity investments in specialized companies. By backing WeRoad and simultaneously recruiting its CEO, Airbnb is executing a more integrated strategy that gives it a minority interest in the group-tour sector while bringing in a seasoned executive with nearly 20 years of experience from Booking.com in hotel operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Before his tenure at WeRoad, D’Amico held a prominent role at Booking.com for 18 years.

      For WeRoad, this funding round signifies a significant achievement in the European travel technology landscape. The company offers multi-day organized tours led by a curated selection of tour guides, targeting primarily millennials and younger travelers—a demographic that traditional tour operators have found challenging to engage.

      WeRoad previously raised €18 million in Series B funding in late 2023, and has been steadily growing since then; the latest $58 million round brings the total funding to around $85-90 million, with the Series C specifically allocated for expansion into the U.S. market.

      Expanding into the U.S. presents a greater challenge for WeRoad. The European segment of group-adventure travel has been thriving due to millennials' willingness to invest in organized social travel; a similar demand exists in the U.S. but competes against established players like Intrepid, G Adventures, and various white-label tour services within Expedia and Airbnb Experiences.

      WeRoad emphasizes that its proprietary tour-guide platform and the brand visibility established on Instagram and TikTok can transition successfully to the U.S. However, the real challenge lies in navigating customer acquisition costs.

      The Airbnb aspect of the deal is particularly intriguing strategically. The platform has sought to diversify from short-term rentals for years, experiencing mixed results in the Experiences sector and facing tougher challenges in the long-term hotel category.

      Bringing in a leader with substantial hotel expertise from Booking.com and securing a minority stake in a rapidly expanding group-travel company indicates that Airbnb is willing to invest substantial capital to expedite its strategic shift instead of depending solely on growth experiments from product teams.

      The valuation associated with Airbnb’s 10% stake for $58 million suggests a post-money valuation of approximately $580 million, reflecting a roughly 4-5x increase from WeRoad’s estimated Series B valuation of around $120-150 million late in 2023. This increase is robust yet not unprecedented for a profitable, expanding European travel tech firm in the current funding climate.

      As of now, WeRoad has not publicly announced a new CEO. An internal search is reportedly underway, with an interim candidate expected to step into the role. The Series C funding is anticipated to support 18 months of operations for the U.S. launch.