Weroad has announced that it has closed a $58 million Series C funding round led by Airbnb, with participation from existing investors, including H14, the lead investor in the Series B round. The capital will fund Weroad\u2019s first major expansion outside Europe, bringing its community travel model to the US market. This signals how the entire travel industry is shifting from destinations to connections, and from leisure to shared experiences. With this round, the company\u2019s total funding raised rises to $100 million <\/p>\n\n
The Serie C round is a significant accolade for the Weroad model, which in recent years has reinvented solo travel, transforming it into a community experience and a cultural and generational concept. Since its launch in Italy in 2017, over 300,000 people have travelled with Weroad on more than 1,000 itineraries across every continent.<\/strong> Thanks to an unconventional marketing approach \u2013 combining in-person events, creative campaigns and an authentic, recognisable tone of voice \u2013 the brand has built a community of over 3.5 million followers on social media.<\/p>\n\n Around 90% of Weroad customers travel alone, seeking shared experiences and genuine connections with people they don\u2019t know. Every trip is accompanied by a coordinator, an experienced and passionate traveller who experiences the journey alongside the group, managing the logistics and fostering genuine connections between participants. The coordinators are part of a community of over four thousand people, which has grown organically across Europe and, now with the first \u2018selection weekend\u2019 in Austin, beyond. <\/p>\n\n Weroad started out as an adventure travel operator and has evolved into a true IRL company, pioneering an experience economy. Millennials and Gen Z, the core of its community, seek deep and lasting connections \u2013 the kind that can only be forged offline \u2013 and are increasingly willing to invest in finding them. In 2025, Weroad expanded its model beyond travel with the launch of Wemeet: a platform for offline experiences, such as excursions, aperitifs, dinners, sporting events and yoga sessions, open to everyone and not just those who have already travelled with Weroad. In 2025 alone, over 50,000 people in 35 cities took part in 2,000 Wemeet events, and the app was downloaded 150,000 times. <\/p>\n\n The Wemeet events will be central to Weroad\u2019s launch in the United States. The company will lead its market entry using its digital platform and online marketing expertise, through targeted campaigns and strategic partnerships to identify and develop the most promising markets. From there, Weroad will replicate the community playbook that has already proven successful in Europe: building a community of American coordinators, local partnerships, and offline events and activations in various cities. <\/p>\n\n Alongside the Series C funding round and the company\u2019s expansion into the US, Weroad CEO Andrea D\u2019Amico, who previously worked at Booking.com, will be moving to San Francisco to lead Airbnb\u2019s hotel division. He will remain involved with Weroad as a board member. Paolo De Nadai, founder of Weroad, will continue to lead the company alongside co-founders Fabio Bin (CMO) and Erika De Santi (Chief of Experience), the leadership team and new international recruits who will support the company\u2019s entry into the US market. <\/p>\n\n De Nadai says in a statement: “In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and social media, genuine human connections are becoming both rarer and more precious. At Weroad, we have built everything \u2013 our product, community and brand \u2013 around the possibility of creating real connections through shared travel experiences. Today, people aren\u2019t just looking for new places to visit: they\u2019re looking for a sense of belonging. Expanding into the United States is a goal we\u2019ve been working towards for years, and having Airbnb by our side is a strong validation of what we\u2019ve built and a powerful sign of the opportunity that lies ahead.\u201d <\/p>\n\n The IRL sector uses technology to facilitate real-world experiences, rather than fostering digital engagement for its own sake. It is, first and foremost, a response to widespread loneliness. Studies show that young people are among those most affected: around 30% of young adults say they feel lonely every day. <\/p>\n\n WeRoad tackles this challenge by placing immersive experiences and authentic connections at the heart of everything it does, from travel to local events. With the support of Airbnb and a proven model for turning strangers into a community, it is now bringing this mission to America. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Italian traveltech scale-up has secured a significant investment to support its expansion into the North American market<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":172090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_substack_draft_id":"","_substack_draft_url":"","_substack_last_pushed":"","_substack_premium":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1317],"tags":[1143,1323,1136,1412,1145],"companies":[3462],"journalist":[1518],"class_list":["post-172091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funding-news","tag-investments","tag-scaleup-en","tag-startup-en-2","tag-traveltech-en","tag-venture-capital-en-2","companies-weroad","journalist-editorial-staff-en"],"featured_sizes_urls":{"thumbnail":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WeRoadIsland-754.jpg","width":150,"height":100,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"weroad airbnb"},"large":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WeRoadIsland-754.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"weroad airbnb"},"2048x2048":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WeRoadIsland-754.jpg","width":1280,"height":853,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"weroad airbnb"}},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n