India’s Travel Demand Is Shifting From Bookings to Experiences
Post-pandemic travel in India has moved decisively beyond sightseeing and discounts. Young travellers are increasingly seeking community-led, experience-first journeys that combine adventure, wellness, and social connection. This shift has created space for D2C travel brands that focus on curated itineraries, repeat engagement, and storytelling-led distribution rather than transactional bookings.
Funding Snapshot and Capital Deployment
Gurugram-based experiential travel brand WanderOn has raised ₹54 crore (around $6.5 million) in a Series A funding round co-led by DSG Consumer Partners and CAAF.
The fresh capital will be used to expand WanderOn’s destination portfolio, strengthen high-demand categories such as adventure, sports-led, and wellness travel, and invest in technology to improve the end-to-end traveller journey.
What WanderOn Is Building
Co-founded in 2017 by Chirag Jain, Ravi Khokher, Madhusudan Jaju, and Govind Gaur, WanderOn operates a D2C travel-tech platform focused on community-driven group travel for millennials and Gen Z. The company offers curated road trips, treks, and custom tours across offbeat domestic and international destinations. Its growth engine relies on digital storytelling, influencer-led discovery, and organic social media reach rather than heavy discounting. WanderOn claims to have served over 1 lakh travellers across 40+ destinations, with a significant share coming from repeat customers, and has scaled to a ₹100+ crore business while remaining largely bootstrapped until this round.
Why This Funding Matters
WanderOn’s raise highlights investor confidence in experiential travel as a differentiated, repeat-driven category rather than a one-time booking business. As competition from platforms like Thrillophilia, Tripoto, and Holidify intensifies, brands that build community, consistency, and trust stand to win long-term loyalty. For Indian founders, the signal is clear: travel startups that combine strong unit economics with experience-led differentiation are increasingly viewed as scalable consumer platforms, not cyclical tourism plays.
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