Backpacker Panda Raises $1.4 Million in Series A Funding Led by 37.37 North Capital

WASHINGTON, February 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Backpacker Panda ("BPP"), the Pune based backpacking hospitality platform has raised Series A Funding of $1.4 million led by 37.37 North Capital (http://www.3737north.com). Backpacker Panda (http://www.backpackerpanda.com) is India's leading luxury backpacking hostel chain and provides 14 properties across India. With its newly launched flagship Colaba property, BPP is pioneering quality, luxurious properties with great common area facilities that allow backpackers traveling across India to meet and socialize. 

     (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/640088/Backpacker_Panda_Logo.jpg )

The tech-backed data-driven backpacking hostel chain will use new funds to enhance customer experience, build its brand, strengthen its tech team, and expand its footprint in domestic and international markets. As part of the transaction fund CIO Manpreet Mattu to join the board of directors and General Partner Bhavish Sood as a board observer.  

Speaking of the main purpose of this fundraise, Kumar Vivek, Founder and CEO, Backpacker Panda, says, "In the past two years we have launched 14 hostel properties aided by our proprietary Central Reservation System ("CRS") system Buddy and with unique data-driven approaches towards managing customer experience we are uniquely positioned to be a pioneer in this new class of accommodation. We are on our course of becoming the largest hostel chain in India this year."

The CIO of 37.37 North Capital, Manpreet Mattu added "The characteristics of the backpacking hosteling market and the quality of the BPP team got us to make this investment. Backpacking hosteling is a very large, growing, and yet fragmented space that is ready for a leader to organize the space. We feel confident that Kumar and Vivek are the right set of leaders to make BPP that leader."

According to the Forbes magazine millennials travelers (aged 18 to 35 years old) have spurred the growth of the industry, seeking to spend more money on longer trips and see as much of the world as possible. More than 70 percent of hostel travelers are millennials, 15 percent of whom have used a hostel in the last 12 months. Indian millennials are catching up fast on these global trends. This is the new segment in the hospitality sector in India and the rise of millennials in India in adopting this has shown a serious market opportunity domestically.   

SOURCE Backpacker Panda Holidays Private Limited