Fora Travel raises $60M on the heels of Ontario launch

U.S.-based host agency Fora Travel – which has recently expanded into Canada – has raised $60 million in Series B and C rounds, according to a press release.

The funding was led by Insight Partners and Thrive Capital, and previous investors, such as Forerunner Ventures and Heartcore Capital, participated as well.

Fora co-founder Evan Frank shared the news on LinkedIn on April 24, saying the investment will be used "to modernize the travel industry for good."

"With today's news, we are confident our thesis will continue to be proven correct: By empowering a growing community to build careers they love, lowering the barrier to start and stay a travel entrepreneur, we've created a new channel of distribution for our partners that provides the best of all worlds – higher quality clients at a lower overall cost in a single channel – at scale,” Frank wrote.

The funding will also better position entrepreneurs in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), the company said in a press release.

For “travel entrepreneurs”

Founded in 2021, Fora says it aims to empower a new generation of travel agents, or “travel entrepreneurs,” giving anyone the opportunity to earn income through bookings.

READ MORE: U.S.-based host agency Fora forges ahead in Ontario

The company has travel agents—who "come from a diversity of backgrounds"—throughout the United States and in 92 countries globally, Frank said in his post. The CEO also said Fora has surpassed $1 billion in sales.

Travel is dominated by channels that are “inferior for the travel provider and for the end customer,” Frank said in a statement.

“We see a historic opportunity to transform the entire travel booking experience, leveraging the best of humans and the best of technology, including AI,” he said.

Fora forges ahead in Ontario

The New York City-based company recently expanded its operations to Ontario.

At a launch party held in Toronto on April 22, Fora co-founder Henley Vasquez said “we’re so excited to officially be up here with our favourite northern neighbours.”

When asked about a U.S.-based host agency entering Canada during a global trade war, Vasquez was optimistic.

“It made me want to lean in even more. I think you know our countries – we are neighbours and friends,” she said. “And even though our governments may be bumping heads at the moment (our government is bumping heads in many places), I think it was part of getting our licensing here. We support Canadian businesses – not just as an extension of an American business, but as truly Canadian small businesses, as travel entrepreneurs.”

“We want Canadian advisors, and Canadian clients, to feel they can operate within their country.”

“Fixing the travel advisor business”

She added that Fora is about “fixing the travel advisor business.”

“I have two big frustrations with the industry,” said Vasquez. “One is the lack of technology. Everything was so analog. No one was building truly-integrated tools. The second part is that it’s a really gatekept industry. We did a great job of not letting new people in. Those are two ways I think Fora is coming at this: how do you bring in new blood, new clients, and new advisors into the industry, and how do you empower them with better tooling to run their businesses on.”

She noted that 97 per cent of Fora’s advisors are new to the travel industry.

“Our space is still quite small compared to what this industry is overall,” she said. “$1.8 trillion dollars in global commissionable bookings. About half of that is hotel bookings. About eight per cent of that is actually booked by travel advisors. There is nothing but room to grow.”