London-based virtual experiences platform, Heygo, has closed after nearly three years of operation, despite a $20 million investment in February 2022. Founder John Tertan, who graduated from Oxford University in 2015, blamed a lack of post-pandemic growth for the failure of the consumer platform for virtual travel, which allowed customers to attend virtual tours led by local tour guides.
Heygo generated millions of dollars in income for tour guides during the pandemic. Tertan said he and his investors had agreed that closing the platform was the best decision. He plans to take time off to travel and visit family and friends before launching another idea, having learned valuable lessons in how to build a company from Heygo.
Travel tech startup Heygo, which offered virtual tours led by local guides, has shut down permanently despite raising $20 million in venture capital in February 2022. The London-based company was founded in 2020 to provide a way for people to “travel” during the pandemic, and had doubled its bookings to 4 million between raising the money and the following November.
However, founder John Tertan said customer activity plateaued as people preferred to travel in person post-pandemic. Heygo’s basic use was as a platform for consumers, and Tertan said its closure felt like the most responsible thing to do with the funds.
