Cruisebound brings travel industry veterans on board with $13M investment

Cruise booking startup Cruisebound has announced $13 million in fresh funding.

The investment in the New York-based company was led by Thayer Ventures with
Link Ventures, former Booking Holdings chairman and CEO Jeff
Boyd, PAR Capital Ventures, Tripadvisor co-founder and former CEO Steve Kaufer,
Flybridge, Plug & Play Ventures and several others also involved. 

“As avid travelers, we were intrigued by the convenience and
value of going on a cruise, but struggled to easily compare, find and book a
cruise on the go,” said Pierre-Oliver Lepage, co-founder and CEO of Cruisebound.
“Since launching Cruisebound two and a half years ago, we’ve helped tens of
thousands of customers discover the joy of cruising.”

“We are impressed by Cruisebound’s innovative approach to a
traditionally complex booking process and triple-digit revenue growth,” said Chris
Hemmeter, managing partner at Thayer Ventures. “The time is right, as
cruising is enjoying a noticeable bump in popularity. According to CLIA, ‘27% of cruisers over the past two years are new-to-cruise, an
increase of 12% over the past year.’ Cruisebound is poised to capitalize on
these industry trends.”

In addition to the funding, Cruisebound said it has been hitting
growth milestones over the past two years, including securing triple-digit annual
revenue growth, 27,000+ cruise itineraries, an AI chat-bot, a 24-hour cabin
hold and multiple-cabin booking feature, flexible payment options and an
expanded team of agents.

“We think of Cruisebound as your friendly cruise co-captain
and leverage new technologies like AI wherever we can to make the booking
experience better,” said Bjorn Larsen, co-founder of Cruisebound. “As a result,
83% of our customers book without any agent assistance, which is
significantly higher than the industry average. And the technology appeals to a
younger consumer. The average Cruisebound customer is 37 years old, 10 years
younger than the average cruiser.”

Cruisebound announced $10 million in Series A funding when it launched in early 2023.