As a kid, Chirag Gupta had the good fortune of growing up in a boarding school that mandated kids to partake in adventure trips twice a year. What began as a compulsion in his childhood days turned into a passion by the time he was an adolescent. And that’s what prompted him to set up Deyor Camps, a discovery platform for offbeat travel locations and outdoor activities such as scuba diving, surfing, paragliding, bungee jumping among others.
Launched in April 2016 by Gupta, Dheeraj Jain, Aakaar Gandhi, Himanshu Agarwal and Gautam Yadav, Deyor Camps has arranged tents and other alternative accommodations for over 10,000 travellers so far. The travel start-up does not build campsites but is an aggregator that earns a commission from its vendors for every activity or stay booked. "When I thought about it, there was not a single discovery platform for offbeat locations or outdoor activities unlike the usual options for which information was readily available. Discovery and trust were two major issues in the alternative accommodation space," says Gupta.
The team managed to attract the attention of investors early on. Within six months of launching the portal, it raised $500k from six investors and an undisclosed amount from Naspers-backed Tek Travels, which runs, Travel Boutique Online. "It is one of the largest B2B travel agencies in India with 27,000 travel agents. Associating with them gave us the visibility and the much needed support from a bigger brand," Gupta explains.
The handshake has paid off. The start-up currently lists 600 campsites along with 1,000 adventure activities from certified vendors across 70 locations in India. It has collaborated with over 72 online travel agents such as MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Booking etc.
Gupta adds, "We are shifting our focus from B2C to B2B now. From a business standpoint that works better for our relationship with the vendors". The travel start-up aims to become the largest supplier of offbeat travel experiences. And if you wish to spend your vacation in the mountains, simply pick a spot, Deyor will plan it for you.
