WeRoad, the Milan-based group journey startup, has raised a $58 million Collection C spherical led by Airbnb because it prepares for its first main enlargement exterior Europe. The funding brings the corporate’s whole capital raised to roughly $100 million and can finance WeRoad’s push into the U.S., starting with Austin.
The brand new funding displays a wager that the following technology of journey corporations could look much less like reserving platforms and extra like social platforms designed to facilitate real-world connections.
The U.S. launch additionally arrives as loneliness, significantly amongst youthful shoppers, has turn out to be each a public well being concern and an rising enterprise alternative. When a lot of the tech business stays centered on AI, WeRoad is positioning itself as a part of the rising “IRL economic system,” a class of startups monetizing offline interplay relatively than display time. Corporations like Timeleft, 222, and Pie are pursuing related concepts via dinners, golf equipment, occasions, and community-based experiences.
The thought behind WeRoad got here from the founders—Paolo De Nadai, Fabio Bin, and Erika De Santi— in search of connection themselves.
“It began from a really private want. If you end faculty and begin working, it turns into more durable to search out folks to journey with. Pals had been settling down, having children, transferring away, or just couldn’t align schedules anymore,” De Nadai informed TechCrunch. “My cofounder Fabio and I each tried corporations providing related group journey experiences for solo travellers, however whereas the journeys had been good, one thing was lacking. The guides had been skilled native consultants, and the teams had been combined in age, and other people didn’t actually see eye to eye. Individuals had been touring collectively, however probably not connecting.”
The founders’ response was to revamp group journey round shared pursuits. WeRoad journeys are primarily designed for youthful vacationers and grouped round shared pursuits and journey kinds. Prospects can e book journeys via the platform primarily based on themes comparable to seashore holidays or snowboarding.
“We requested ourselves, ‘What if we created journeys for Millennials and Gen Z travellers, bringing collectively folks from the identical age teams with shared cultural references however fully totally different backgrounds, and centered on creating actual bonds between them?’” De Nadai added.
Earlier than every journey begins, vacationers are added to a WhatsApp group managed by the group chief so members can start attending to know each other forward of time. Teams usually embody between eight and fifteen vacationers.
“The largest concern folks have is never the vacation spot,” De Nadai mentioned, however normally considerations that they received’t join with the group. To handle that, WeRoad deliberately constructions itineraries round social dynamics. Extra adventurous or collaborative actions are sometimes scheduled early within the journey to assist break the ice.
Most itineraries final between 10 and 12 days, although the corporate has additionally launched shorter weekend codecs geared toward first-time clients. In accordance with WeRoad, roughly 60% of vacationers finally e book one other journey.
Moreover, as an alternative of conventional tour guides, WeRoad has “group leaders,” coordinators nearer in age to vacationers who act extra like journey companions. The corporate now works with greater than 4,000 group leaders globally.
“We’re not searching for vacation spot consultants, however for folks with journey expertise and robust mushy abilities. Can they lead a bunch, deal with pressure, adapt when plans change, and assist strangers join?” De Nadai mentioned.
WeRoad has additionally begun increasing past journey itself. In 2025, the corporate launched WeMeet, an app centered on native in-person gatherings, together with dinners, hikes, yoga courses, working teams, after-work drinks, and board sport nights. WeRoad says greater than 50,000 folks attended WeMeet occasions throughout 35 cities final 12 months, whereas the app reached 150,000 downloads.
The corporate says WeMeet will even play a central function in its U.S. enlargement technique. Moderately than instantly scaling nationwide, WeRoad plans to deal with a small variety of cities first, starting with Austin, the place it’ll recruit group leaders, arrange native occasions, and construct group partnerships earlier than increasing additional.
“We’ll be launching WeMeet occasions throughout a number of U.S. cities all through 2026, beginning with Austin due to its unbelievable power and vibrant group scene,” De Nadai mentioned.
Whether or not corporations can construct lasting companies round loneliness and social connection stays an open query. However buyers are more and more betting that the demand is actual.
WeRoad says it generated €130 million in income in 2025, up 30% 12 months over 12 months, whereas taking greater than 100,000 vacationers on journeys final 12 months alone. Since launching in 2017, the corporate says it has organized journey for greater than 300,000 clients throughout over 1,000 itineraries globally.
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