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Heygo, based in London, England, offered live-streamed virtual tours led by local guides, enabling users to explore global destinations and experiences remotely. The platform allowed interactive engagement, reaching peak operations with tours from 90 countries. It raised a total of $20.77 million in funding, including a $20 million Series A round in February 2022, notably backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Heygo operated on a tip-based model, with guides retaining 60% of tips and the company taking a 40% commission. Despite its funding, Heygo ceased operations in April 2023, approximately one year after its Series A, citing a post-pandemic decline in demand for virtual travel and an inability to sustain growth, employing 15 full-time staff at closure. Heygo was founded in 2020 by John Tertan and Liam Garrison.
Heygo has raised $20.0M across 1 funding round.
Heygo has raised $20.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Heygo has raised $20.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $20.0M Series A in February 2022.
Heygo has raised $20.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Heygo's investors include Northzone, Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, AirAngels, Alt Capital, Alumni Ventures, Banana Capital, Creandum, Earl Grey Capital, Encomenda Smart Capital, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley.
# Heygo: Democratizing Global Travel Through Live-Streamed Experiences
Heygo is a London-based virtual travel platform that enables users to explore destinations worldwide through interactive, live-streamed tours led by local guides.[1] The company has built a creator-driven marketplace where guides—ranging from historians and chefs to hikers and performers—broadcast immersive experiences from over 70 countries, allowing audiences to participate in real-time conversations and shared discovery from anywhere on the planet.[2]
The platform solves a fundamental problem: making authentic, curated travel experiences accessible regardless of physical location, financial constraints, or environmental barriers. Rather than passive video consumption, Heygo emphasizes intimacy and interaction, positioning itself as what one investor describes as "the Twitch equivalent of the hugely popular travel show and documentary genre."[1] Users join tours free of charge and support creators through tips, creating a sustainable economic model for both travelers and guides. With 2.8 million bookings achieved and 300% year-over-year growth in bookings, Heygo demonstrates strong product-market fit and accelerating adoption.[1][2]
Heygo was founded by John Tertan, who serves as CEO and co-founder, with the vision of creating a space where people could share their stories and passions with an international community in an intimate and authentic way.[1] The company emerged during a period when pandemic-driven lockdowns created unprecedented demand for remote travel experiences—a moment when consumers desperately sought connection to the wider world despite physical confinement.
The platform's early traction was substantial. The company reached two million bookings and achieved 300% growth in January bookings compared to the prior year, signaling rapid market acceptance.[1] This momentum attracted significant institutional backing: in a recent funding round, Heygo secured $20 million led by Northzone, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Point 9 Capital, TQ Ventures, Ascension, the Fund, and angel investors.[1] The company operates with approximately 40 employees and generated $18.9 million in revenue, demonstrating that the virtual travel category has matured beyond pandemic novelty into a sustainable business.[3]
Unlike traditional travel platforms that extract value from guides, Heygo inverts the model. Guides retain ownership of their content, broadcast on their own live channels, and earn directly from user tips.[1] This approach attracts authentic, passionate creators rather than corporate content producers, fostering genuine storytelling.
Tours are live and interactive, not pre-recorded. Participants engage with guides and each other through chat, share postcards of their journey, and co-create the experience in real time.[2] This transforms passive viewing into active participation and community building.
Operating across 70+ countries with 2,800+ active guides, Heygo combines global reach with hyper-local expertise.[2] Guides are embedded in their communities, offering perspectives that mass-market travel content cannot replicate.
By removing entry barriers (free to join) while enabling voluntary creator support, Heygo maximizes accessibility and participation while maintaining sustainable creator compensation.
The company is launching a dedicated streaming app, signaling evolution beyond web-based tours toward a more integrated, platform-native experience.[1]
Heygo operates at the intersection of three powerful trends: the creator economy, live-streaming platforms, and experiential travel demand. The company rides the same wave that elevated Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon—the recognition that audiences will pay for authentic, unfiltered access to passionate creators.
The timing is particularly favorable. Post-pandemic, consumers have normalized remote experiences while simultaneously craving authentic human connection and cultural discovery. Traditional travel platforms like Airbnb and Amazon recognized this opportunity early, launching their own virtual experiences.[1] However, Heygo's differentiation lies in its focus on *live, interactive* experiences rather than pre-recorded content, creating a category that feels more like social connection than consumption.
The platform also addresses sustainability concerns—a growing priority for conscious travelers. Virtual tours reduce carbon footprints while democratizing access to destinations that might otherwise remain inaccessible due to cost, mobility, or visa restrictions. This positions Heygo as aligned with broader ESG trends influencing both consumer behavior and investor capital allocation.
Within the creator economy, Heygo demonstrates how platforms can thrive by prioritizing creator autonomy and fair compensation. As regulatory scrutiny on platform economics intensifies, this model may prove more resilient than extractive alternatives.
Heygo has moved beyond proof-of-concept into a scaling phase, evidenced by substantial funding, growing bookings, and expanding geographic footprint. The company's next frontier involves deepening platform engagement through its streaming app, likely introducing features that strengthen community bonds and increase creator monetization opportunities.
The broader opportunity is significant: virtual travel is no longer a pandemic substitute but a complementary category to physical tourism. As remote work normalizes and digital nomadism grows, demand for curated, interactive global experiences will likely accelerate. Heygo's challenge will be maintaining creator quality and authenticity as it scales—a common pitfall for platforms that grow too quickly.
The company's influence on the tech ecosystem extends beyond travel. It exemplifies how live-streaming and creator economics can unlock entirely new categories, and how platforms can succeed by genuinely empowering creators rather than extracting value from them. As investors increasingly scrutinize creator-platform relationships, Heygo's model may become a template for sustainable, creator-first platforms across industries.
The fundamental insight remains: people don't just want to see the world; they want to *connect* with it and with each other. Heygo has built infrastructure for that connection, and the market is responding.
