AllTrails raises $ 150 million after COVID increases people's desire to explore nature.

Following a covid-driven boom, the popular AllTrails resource for hikers, cyclists, climbers and anyone else who enjoys being outdoors announced today that they have received $ 150 million from the Permira Expansion Fund to help it grow even faster. Following this transaction, Spectrum Equity will continue to be the company's largest shareholder.

AllTrails, like many other companies, benefited from how the epidemic affected customer behavior. Many individuals revived their interest in exploring nature and interacting with nature during locks and social distance actions, and many went to AllTrail's extensive database of over 300,000 hiking, jogging and mountain biking trails to find where to go.

"COVID was an acceleration of a trend that we have observed for several years," says AllTrails CEO Ron Schneidermann. "Even before the epidemic, about a third of the world's population engaged in some form of outdoor life on a regular basis." Walking for fun or exercise is by far the most common activity in virtually every country on the planet. "When you include trail running, mountain biking, camping and hiking, those numbers skyrocket," he says.

Over the past 18 months, the AllTrails mobile app has grown in popularity, with more than 40 million downloads and 30 million registered users in 190 countries. Over 100 million individuals visited AllTrails.com to discover a route in the past year. Although the company does not normally publish its revenue or paid subscribers regularly, it celebrated reaching one million paid subscribers in January.

Although the covid locks (currently) have been lifted, the business claims that demand for AllTrails has remained strong.

"When the world opens up again, we see the perseverance of this connection to the outdoors," Schneidermann adds. "This stickiness presents itself in terms of app usage and frequency, as well as gains across the board in sign-up rates, user-generated content contributions, freemium conversion rates and subscriber retention rates," he says.

AllTrails, on the other hand, did not need to raise financing because it has been profitable since 2017. Rather, the company chose to raise more capital to help it accelerate its current pace. The money will be used for product development, expansion of AllTrail's staff and the global expansion of AllTrail's community.

Although North America accounts for over two-thirds of AllTrail's users, Europe, Asia and Latin America see some of the fastest growth rates.

Schneidermann claims that the company would double its workforce for the third year in a row, mainly due to R&D and product development expenses. It is now looking for services in technology, design, finance, operations, product and other areas.

The AllTrails app, which now includes search, discovery, reviews and a large selection of offline maps, will be updated in 2022.

Despite user-generated material in the form of track evaluations and images, the app is currently more functional than social. People contribute to this resource so that others like them can benefit from their advice - for example if a route becomes muddy after a rain, if it is too steep for families hiking with young children, if it is crowded on the weekends and so on . At the same time, trail pictures give people a sense of what a route is like and what kind of wonderful sights they can encounter. But many AllTrails users still go to other networks, such as Facebook groups, to get ideas on where to go or ride a bike.

AllTrails intends to invest in its product with the extra funding, and has a number of new features underway for both free and paid customers in the coming year, including those aimed at helping society better connect.

"We believe there is a significant opportunity to improve the search and discovery experience through personalization, enhance the navigation experience on the tracks, expand access to more users around the world through additional language support and create more ways for our community to interact, share experiences and inspire each other, says Schneidermann.

Permira, which has funded Klarna, Minted, Zwift and others, and recently helped with the acquisition of McAfee, is seen as particularly beneficial in increasing AllTrail's global reach.

"Continuous international expansion is an important goal for us, which is why we are particularly pleased to utilize the global resources that Permira brings to the table," the business adds.

As a result of the transaction, Bruce Chizen, Senior Advisor to Permira and former CEO of Adobe, and Gretchen Howard, COO of Robinhood, will join the company's board.

Spectrum Equity has previously made an investment of $ 75 million in the company in October 2018.