Cabana raises $3.5 million
Cabana, the Seattle-based startup that let’s you bring your hotel with you, has closed a $3.5 million seed funding round led by Craft Ventures, with participation from Goldcrest Capital, Travis VanderZanden, CEO and founder at Bird and Sunny Madra, vice president Ford X at Ford Motor Company.
Founded in 2019, Cabana converts camper vans into mobile hotel rooms equipped with a bed, shower, toiletries, Wi-Fi, TV, storage, fridge, coffee maker, a 45-gallon water tank and in some units, kitchens. Each van is intended for a driver and one passenger, any anyone who is 25 years or older, has a valid driver’s license, and made a reservation can driver the van. The booking, check-in and check-out, vehicle pickup and authorization are all handled through the Cabana app. Rates are around $200 per night and vans are currently available in Seattle.
“We have built mobile hotel rooms that are designed around the traveler to provide both comfortable and customized accommodation and transport. Trips and vacations are inclusive of two key elements – the travel to the destination and the destination itself. We are tightly integrating the two by providing travelers both a comfortable mobile hotel room and unique experience that meets their needs.” – Scott Kubly, Cabana’s founder and CEO.
“Ideas that utilize existing infrastructure and satisfy a previously unseen or emerging consumer need are often the genesis of companies that can establish and lead a new industry. Cabana fits squarely within this theory and provides travelers a new way to experience and explore destinations that might not otherwise have been available to them while also avoiding carbon-emitting flights.” – Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird.
“Cabana gives people an ideal combination of freedom, comfort, and convenience. Despite the societal upheaval of the last few months, the human desire to travel and explore remains unchanged. Why shelter in place when you can shelter in paradise?” – David Sacks, cofounder and general partner of Craft.