IGO Adventures takes on the investment challenge
by Startacus Admin
A few weeks ago, IGO Adventures announced the launch of a crowdfunding round on leading equity 
investment platform Seedrs. The company, which launched in 2016, takes groups of people into the wilderness to disconnect from the digital world and reconnect with nature.
The global adventure tourism market was valued at $445 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $1,336 billion in 2023, projecting a CAGR of 17.4% from 2016 to 2023. Of another magnitude again is the wellness industry, which has recently been reported at a value of $4.2 trillion. There’s a sizeable potential market in the UK as well: Sport England has found that 8.9 million people in the UK are active outdoors. Of those, 2.5 million are regularly active of whom 1.7 million want to do more.
However, IGO, who very much straddles the adventure/wellness markets and has identified the decline in mass participation events and the stagnation of mud running events due to oversaturation as an opportunity. An opportunity they believe IGO Adventures can fill.IGO, founded by ocean rower & ex-professional polo player, Bobby Melville, and world-record breaking explorer, George Bullard, organise a series of multi-disciplined, physical challenges in some of the world’s most spectacular and remote wildernesses. Whether that’s the place Scott trained for his Arctic expedition in Norway, where Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the then-unchartered West of America, where the Berbers held the Roman empire at bay in Morocco, or ancient battlefields in Scotland - you hopefully get the picture.
The funds hopefully raised via Seedrs will enable IGO to launch a series of weekend challenges in and around the UK and Europe with the winner of each awarded a coveted spot on the week-long Ultimate IGO Challenge in Montana, USA in Sept 2019. The round is being led by NM Capital who recently acquired British Military Fitness.
Since 2016, IGO has taken just under 200 people away on weekend and week-long challenges on three different continents. Every event comprises of living in nature away 
from technology, completing physical challenges in the wild and immersion in the local culture.
And they seem to have the backing of well known 'adventurers' too. Will Dean, Founder of Tough Mudder said:
"Bobby and his team have created a purpose-driven company dedicated to bringing people together and reconnecting them with their spirit of fun, adventure and exploration. I believe the future looks bright for IGO."
With Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE, Explorer, also having this to say: "It is great to see IGO encouraging people to explore the globe and challenge their mental and physical capabilities. I am very excited about what Bobby and his team are creating at IGO."
Currently, at time of publication, IGO Adventures sits at £221k raised, against their 275k target on Seedrs.
If you like the sound of this startup, you might want to read up on:
RUNVI - the insole fitness tracker
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Published on: 10th November 2018
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