Wanderlust Scores $30M Series C Funding and Sets Up Philanthropic Fund

The Wanderlust Group (TWG), a company that connects adventurers to outdoor destinations, has closed a $30 million Series C funding round led by Thursday Ventures. The Wanderlust Group is the parent brand to Dockwa, Marinas.com, and the forthcoming Campouts – technology marketplaces and platforms that help adventurers get outside and destinations grow.

TWG will use the funds from this round to scale Dockwa so marinas can run every transaction through the platform, Dockwa can expand to more marinas internationally, and the company can build a better boater community. After the strongest year in the company’s history, The Wanderlust Group is also using the milestone of 5 million stays booked through Dockwa to launch The Wanderfund, a new philanthropic initiative focused on supporting organizations that create greater access to nature and protect the environment.

The company will kick-off The Wanderfund with investments supporting the Ocean Conservancy, which works to protect our ocean from its greatest challenges, as well as The Boys & Girls Club of Newport County for programs that get youth outside and introduce new generations to a shared love and respect for the outdoors. TWG was founded in Newport, so this latter investment is also a tribute to the community that gave the company its start. From there, The Wanderlust Group will engage its community of hundreds of thousands of boaters, marinas, and adventurers to nominate other environmental nonprofits for support each quarter. The Wanderfund will invest $300,000 this year in environmentally-focused nonprofits.

Thursday Ventures, whose mission is to find, fund, and nurture early-stage tech companies that empower and change the world, is closely linked to TWG’s success and future governance. The Series C funding round was led by Ryan McKillen at Thursday Ventures who joined TWG Board of Directors in May 2021 and whose resume includes helping scale Uber’s engineering team as the company’s third employee. Thursday Ventures will join the TWG board and cap table, helping the company build out its executive and engineering teams as it moves into the next phase of global growth.

Over the past year, the boating industry has flourished, with new boat sales hitting a 13-year high in 2020, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, and the flurry of boater activity continuing into 2021. Since its launch, TWG’s products have connected hundreds of thousands of boaters to search, explore, reserve, and pay for reservations at thousands of marinas digitally. On average, Dockwa has increased the average net operating income of its marina customers by 20%, and its total marina value by $800,000.