Remote Year, a startup founded by Chicagoan Greg Caplan, raised a new round of funding to help people travel the world while working remotely.
Remote Year announced Tuesday that it raised $5 million in a round led by Chicago VC firm Lightbank. Existing investor Highland Capital Partners also participated in the round. Remote Year has now raised $17 million since it was founded in 2015. The startup raised a $12 million round back in 2016.
Remote Year's goal is to help people experience new countries and cultures for months at a time---all while still working at their current jobs. The startup offers 4, 6 and 12-month programs that make working remotely while traveling abroad more accessible. Users travel together in groups and spend a month in a new city around the world, all while having access to SIM cards, WiFi and other resources to successfully work remotely. The startup also offers "employer success specialists" that help interested participants get employer approval to partake in the program.
Remote Year currently operates in 12 cities, including Mexico City, Medellin, Lima, Santiago, Split, Lisbon, Valencia, Cape Town, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Chiang Mai and Kyoto. The program costs $2,000 a month plus a down payment.
The startup has held 55 programs since launching less than five years ago, and has seen 2,500 people use its platform to travel to more than 40 countries on five continents.
"We have built a company focused on helping people overcome all the hurdles of working while traveling internationally," Caplan said in a blog post announcing the new funding. "We have truly become the global expert in how to work remotely while traveling abroad."
Caplan said the new funding will be used to bring new experiences and products to its users. It's also experimenting with the duration of its trips, offering shorter co-living experiences that can be a week or a month long, as well as a 10-day trip with a surprise destination.
