Fishing is a decidedly analog endeavor. The boat. The bait. The hook. The reel.
Not to mention coolers and ability to navigate in changing conditions. There's a reason fishing guides will probably always have business.
And Austin-based Captain Experiences Inc. wants to be there to facilitate the interactions between weekend reelers and knowledgable guides. The startup has signed on hundreds of guides, mostly along the Gulf Coast in Texas with seagoing entrepreneurs scattered from South Padre Island to South Florida.
Now, the company hopes to cast out new lines to partner with new guides, and a group of angel investors is fueling its expansion with a $2 million round of seed funding, announced Feb. 1. Backers include Looking Glass Capital, Andrew Chen of Silicon Valley-based A16Z (otherwise known as Andreessen Horowitz), Goodwater Capital, Not Boring Capital, Correlation Ventures, Capital Factory, Psion, WSGR and actor Oliver Hudson.
"We've now booked thousands of trips and partnered with over 750 guides, mostly focused on Southeast saltwater fishing from Texas to Florida," co-founder and CEO Jonathan Newar said. "But the grand vision from day one has always been to expand across all outdoor sports and geographies."
Newar started building Captain Experiences after putting together a fishing trip in Galveston for a group of guys he worked with in the oil and gas industry in Houston. He took a typical route of Googling for guides and charters, leaving messages and trying to get the best fit.
It was a headache accompanied by opportunity. Without a dominant online marketplace for booking, a la Airbnb, with fishing-specific filters, Newar decided to create the tool he wished was available and reached out to fishing guides to get them on board.
He soon moved to Austin and met Attison Barnes at a house party. Barnes, who was a product strategy manager at staffing company Adia US, started teaming up slowly before coming on as a co-founder.
Captain Experiences works with fishing guides and charter companies to build profiles. The site categorizes experiences by destinations, such as Port Aransas in Texas or Key West in Florida, and the types of fish targeted, say snapper or redfish.
Newar said the startup doesn't compete head-to-head with general adventure booking platforms, including Trip Advisor and Airbnb. Instead it zeros in on the nuances of fishing trips: how many people you're going out with, what their cancelation policy is and what to expect. It lists the guides' boat types, including engine size and amenities. It also encourages user reviews, and it designates services with great reviews as "certified damn good guides."
The company launched in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Its future quickly dimmed.
"I remember working on my laptop with CNBC on in the background and the stock market tanked, and for a little bit, for a day or two, you're like, 'What have I done?'" Newar said. "But then we said, 'Hey, you know, this is a real opportunity for us. If we can launch a consumer travel experiences marketplace through the pandemic, we're going to be a much stronger business for it.'"
Even as people began venturing out again, largely for outdoor activities, business remained somewhat lackluster. And, to this day, Newar said the data show that when cases rise, bookings go down.
Captain's five-person team works out Capital Factory's coworking space on a limited in-person schedule. With the new funding, the startup plans to grow to 15 people in coming months by hiring for growth marketing and guide success managers, among other roles.
While the pandemic has impacted the flow of fishing trip bookings, Captain found the suddenly remote nature of fundraising to be an advantage.
Pre-Covid, Newar would likely have had to buy several flights to meet with angel investors and venture capital firms. Instead, he tapped into Capital Factory's huge network of investors and advisors and connected with most of them via video conference to land investment commitments.
"Most everything is happening via Zoom now and, honestly, as a first-time founder, I couldn't really imagine it any other way," he said.
Get ABJ's latest list of local venture capital firms here, and see the list of angel investors here. A list of local startup incubators can be found here. For daily updates on fundings, hires and other news of interest to the startup community, sign up for Austin Inno's Beat newsletter.
