NEW YORK CITY — Host agency Fora says it has raised US$60 million in funding, for a total of $138.5 million, and now has a post-money valuation of $1 billion.
Fora is based in the U.S. with its headquarters in New York City, but in recent years it has expanded into international markets including Canada and Mexico.
The company says the financing follows a period of accelerated growth, with Fora advisors booking more than $3 billion in travel since Fora was founded in 2021.
“INCREDIBLE MOMENTUM”
Fora’s Natalie Lum-Tai, Head of Canada Operations, told Travelweek earlier this year that since launching in Canada last April, Fora has seen “incredible momentum,” with its Canadian advisor community, growing by 230%.
In a July 16 post Fora co-founder Evan Frank said the $60 million in funding is a milestone that’s “a recognition of the scale Fora advisors have already built. Nearly three times an hour, someone becomes an entrepreneur for the first time on Fora. The number of Fora advisors booking over $2 million per year tripled over last year. And we recently crossed 1 million hotel bookings.”
With five years now under the host agency’s belt, Frank said the next five years will focus on more tech including AI. “AI will play a major role in the future, but not by replacing the human judgement, taste, relationships and advocacy that make the difference between a good itinerary and a great trip. It will help take on the admin, workflows and repeatable tasks behind the scenes, so advisors can spend more time on the parts of the job only humans can do.”
The company notes that It took Fora three years to reach its first $1 billion in lifetime bookings, eight months to reach the second billion and five months to reach the third.
Fora is scaling Via, its embedded AI assistant, currently in beta with a group of the company’s top advisors. The new AI operating layer across Fora’s entire platform is designed to help advisors tackle tasks like destination research, supplier knowledge, client itineraries, and proposal generation, reducing admin work.
According to company stats, 97% of Fora’s 15,000+ active travel advisors are new-to-industry.
For Fora’s input in Travelweek’s recent coverage of the surge in new-to-industry entrants, click here.
