Off & Away
Fashion and beauty platform for posting pictures and sharing entertainment information.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Off & Away, founded in 2009 by Doug Aley and Michael Walton, was a Seattle-based online travel company that introduced a novel approach to booking luxury hotel stays. The founders brought complementary expertise to the venture; Aley had a background in product, marketing, and business development at companies like Jott Networks and Amazon.com, while Walton focused on customer experience and personalization at Orbitz Worldwide and Amazon's digital media division. Their shared vision was to create exceptional travel experiences by making high-end hotel suites more accessible.
The company's core offering was a bid-to-win auction model for stays at upscale hotels. Customers would purchase bids, typically for $1 each, which they could then use in auctions for luxury suites. Each bid placed would incrementally increase the suite's price (e.g., by 10 or 25 cents) and extend the auction's closing time, creating a dynamic and competitive bidding environment. This model allowed winning customers to secure stays at prestigious properties for what was often a fraction of the retail price. Revenue was generated from the sale of these non-refundable bids and from commissions on hotel bookings. A key feature of the business model was that customers who participated in an auction but did not win could apply the full value of the bids they had purchased as a credit towards a standard booking at any hotel available on the site, initially within a 7-day window, which was later extended to 30 days to improve customer value.
Off & Away successfully raised $3.25 million over two funding rounds, with notable investment from Madrona Venture Group. The company launched its website in May 2010, gaining attention by featuring in the Startup Battlefield competition at TechCrunch Disrupt. After operating for approximately two years, Off & Away was acquired by Lockerz, an online retailer, on December 10, 2011. At the time of the acquisition, the company assured customers that all existing bookings, whether from auctions or direct sales, would be honored.
Keywords: Off & Away, travel auction, hotel booking, luxury travel, online travel agent, Doug Aley, Michael Walton, Madrona Venture Group, bid-to-win auction, travel startup, Seattle startup, Lockerz acquisition, hotel deals, travel technology, online auction, suite booking, hospitality market, travel innovation, customer travel credit, TechCrunch Disrupt