Upventur on Thursday announced the completion of the company’s acquisition and integration strategy of Yonder, an outdoor adventure social media mobile app and company.
Upventur showcases an “Outdoor Adventure” platform that provides a single digital space for outdoor enthusiasts of all skill levels, to find their next adventure, connect with each other, locate guides and share their experiences. By combining Yonder with Upventur’s custom-built web platform, Upventur further cements itself as a go-to resource and social media platform where outdoor enthusiasts can:
- Discover It – Enjoy unique, high quality content from outdoor adventurers/bloggers/vloggers, including gear reviews, location insights, recommendations, news and how-tos.
- Do It –Be matched with adventure guides across the spectrum of outdoor activities and plan their next experience.
- Share It – Connect with other outdoor enthusiasts/adventurers and share their experiences.
Craig Pettigrew, CEO and founder, shared “the core of our company’s efforts revolves around a simple question: ‘What’s Your Upventur?’ The combination of Upventur and Yonder allows for a broader and better user experience for our community to discover their desired upventur and get exploring outdoors.”
This announcement underscores Upventur’s deepening commitment to building a complete omni-channel platform across web, mobile app and social communities. The company’s charter is to ultimately create a digital ecosystem aimed at inspiring outdoor adventure and removing friction for outdoor enthusiasts. During the assimilation process of Yonder, the Upventur team recognized the value of the Yonder brand. The passion of the user community was undeniable; consequently, the decision was made to maintain the mobile app and branding of “Yonder by Upventur.”
Pettigrew insists that Upventur team members get outside the company and engage its diverse user-base and adventure guides. Their feedback ultimately shapes the company and is the heart of the Upventur user experience. The development team has been working diligently to enrich both the web and mobile app. New releases will launch next week. Longer term, Pettigrew has been building his organization and intensifying investment to accelerate a roadmap he claims is “packed with valuable adventure-enabling features.”
Upventur’s focus and commitment to the outdoor adventure market aligns with attractive growing global trends. In the U.S. alone, $887 billion is spent on the outdoor industry annually. Furthermore, outdoor industry growth is rapidly outpacing overall economic growth and other recreational activities in the US.
The outdoor recreation market trends transcend global regions and are cross-generational. Millennials and Gen-Z in the U.S. are among the fastest growing sub-segment within the overall outdoor market. This amplifies the need for a digital solution for these first two generations of true digital natives. Case at point, 88 percent of millennials discover travel content via broader, non-brand-specific social media platforms (and prefer it that way).
The company and its investors believe a comprehensive experiential platform that provides a single space for adventurers and travel enthusiasts to connect with guides and other adventurers, share experiences and find new ones, has a unique chance to capture a significant portion of this thriving market. Upventur delivers a versatile, personalized platform with resident social capabilities promising optimal user-driven experiences.
Pettigrew said, “We’ve heard so many meaningful stories about how outdoor adventure has been a part of our customer’s personal achievement journey, how it has helped them to overcome, to conquer, to become part of a community, to grow. Our goal at Upventur is simply to help our community just do exactly as our tagline says. We want you to, ‘Find adventure — Find yourself.’ ”
