How to travel the world from the comfort of your couch

Growing up in a working class family outside of Philadelphia, my idea of taking a trip as a kid was getting in the car and driving two hours to the Pocono Mountains. As I got older, my father’s job evolved into a management role, leading him to travel around the world meeting suppliers and partners. When he returned, I loved hearing his stories of what it was like to travel across Europe, from Spain to Scotland. From the moment I started working, my saving goal was clear — funds for travel. Over the years, I went from traveling around the world to moving around the world. As long as I can remember, travel has been a core part of my life.

But lately, travel is one of the things many of us haven’t been able to do as much as we used to — both because of restrictions due to COVID and the newfound awareness at just how bad unnecessary travel is for the environment. And yet, there are millions of others like me who would love to travel but can’t, due to a lack of time and money, limited resources, or concerns about the environment. Enter Hegyo…

Heygo is a live-streaming platform that offers guided tours of hundreds of locations around the world, created by people who live there. Visit the Bangkok Flower Market in the morning, take a cooking class in Bordeaux the same afternoon, and never have to remove your shoes to pass through airport security.

Because you experience these tours as they happen, you can interact with the guides and fellow travelers as if you were there in person, then send digital postcards to make your friends jealous.

Heygo is a compelling combination of travel, live streaming, and social that is gaining traction at exactly the right time. That’s why my partner Nicole Quinn and I are thrilled to announce Lightspeed’s participation in its $20 million Series A round, in partnership with our friends (and my former colleagues) at Northzone.

Gratuities are appreciated

Obviously, we wouldn’t invest in any venture without a strong belief in its founders. John Tertan and Liam Garrison are deeply passionate about democratising travel and making it affordable to all. They launched Heygo as a side project last April 2020. A few months later, the site was growing so quickly they both quit their full-time jobs so they could devote all their time to it.

One of their more brilliant ideas was to make the content on the site available for free, and encourage people to leave tips instead. Heygo members can pay whatever they think a tour is worth; the site keeps a percentage of it.

Wish you were here

Heygo fits perfectly into Lightspeed’s investment thesis in several important ways:

It’s live streamed. While COVID certainly helped to drive live streaming into the mainstream, virtual events were on a strong growth path well before the pandemic. We believe this trend will only continue.

It’s binge-able. Most tours last from 30 to 45 minutes, which lowers the commitment barrier and makes it comparable to watching something on Netflix. The average member books four tours a week.

It’s a social-first platform. Heygo is built around a community of guides and travelers, and is growing organically via word of mouth. Two-thirds of its members found the site on their own, and the number of tour participants has grown 30X since last fall.

The total addressable market is vast: Travel tours and activities generate $190 billion annually, yet only 4 percent of people cross their country’s borders each year. Heygo appeals equally to frequent fliers and those who never leave the couch, but like to dream about it.

The first generation of social platforms was mostly about looking good, which led to the rise of Instagram, Snap, and now TikTok. We believe the next generation will revolve around sounding smart. And the best way to broaden your mind is by exposing it to new cultures and new ideas.

We’re confident Heygo’s value proposition will continue to remain relevant in a post-COVID world, as it drives toward becoming a leading destination for live experiences.

When global travel isn’t possible, virtual tours can bring the world to you.