“Excursion Haven: Embark on Guided Hunting and Fishing Adventures with Mallard Bay’s Airbnb Experience”

Americans indulged in a whopping $144.8 billion worth of fishing and hunting activities in 2022 alone, according to a comprehensive survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While guided hunting and fishing excursions make up a considerable portion of this industry, they have largely remained offline. Bookings are done through archaic methods such as telephone and paid for by physical checks or cash. However,

all of that is about to change with the introduction of Mallard Bay.

Mallard Bay, a trailblazing startup based in Houston, aims to revolutionize the hunting and fishing industry. Acting as a marketplace, the company provides consumers with a platform to find and book guided tours just as they would book a hotel room online. Not only that, but Mallard Bay is also a vertical SaaS platform, offering outfitters the opportunity to bring their business online and access additional services such as marketing.

This week, the startup announced a successful Series A funding round of $4.6 million, led by Soul Venture Partners with participation from existing investor Acadian Capital Ventures and other angel investors. Logan Meaux, the co-founder and CEO of Mallard Bay, shared that the inspiration for the company came after a disastrous hunting trip with his father during his college years. The pair had booked a guided duck hunt in Oklahoma, only to find upon arrival that the hunt was double-booked and their only option was to join a group of 13 other people for just one day. The excursion turned out to be a complete failure, and Meaux never fired a single shot.

At the time, Meaux was working at his father’s company, Waitr, which successfully raised $24 million in venture capital and exited in 2018. This experience motivated Meaux to start his own business, and in 2019, he joined forces with two other co-founders to bring their vision of a marketplace for guided hunts to life. Initially, the idea was to create a platform similar to Airbnb, where individuals could easily book hunting trips. However, they soon realized that they would need to offer more to entice guides to sign up. This realization led them to develop Guidetech, Mallard Bay’s back-office solution for outfitters.

“We quickly discovered that outfitters were receptive to our idea, but they needed the right resources to make the transition to an online platform,” Meaux explained. “Outfitters are passionate about what they do and often do not consider themselves business owners first. With our passion for the outdoors and our expertise in software, we were able to connect with them and offer our services to help them grow their businesses.

One of Mallard Bay’s earliest and most successful partnerships was with Toby Brohlin, a renowned hunting influencer. Brohlin’s involvement with the platform has resulted in over $1 million in gross bookings to date. In 2023, Mallard Bay facilitated more than $6 million in gross bookings, and their trajectory suggests that they will hit $30 million to $35 million in 2024.

Despite the market’s size and Mallard Bay’s impressive traction, Meaux revealed that it was challenging to secure investors. The company reached out to over 270 investors before finally securing the Series A funding round. Meaux attributes this difficulty to the fact that many investors were unfamiliar with the category and were hesitant to invest. Additionally, Mallard Bay had to overcome negative connotations associated with hunting and reassure potential investors that their platform was not promoting exotic hunting trips in Africa. The founders also emphasized that when done ethically, hunting and fishing contribute to conservation—a cause close to the company’s heart.

Meaux stated, “Conservation is an inherent aspect of hunting and fishing. Our parents taught us these activities, and we want to pass them down to our children. Sustainable practices and wildlife management are essential for the survival of these cherished traditions.”

While I’m not a hunter myself, and I only occasionally fish, Mallard Bay’s success story piqued my interest. It is not every day that we hear about hunting or fishing in the world of startups and technology. Hunting SaaS is indeed a unique concept! And Mallard Bay is not the only company in this category that has recently secured funding—a notable example is HLRBO, an online platform that simplifies the process of finding land leases for hunting, which raised $1 million in seed funding in February.

Mallard Bay’s rapid growth since its launch in 2021 is also worth mentioning. The company’s bookings have increased by a staggering 600% year-over-year—a remarkable feat in any category, especially one that is seemingly niche, like hunting and fishing. As the saying goes, “the riches are in the niches,” and these markets are often more significant than they appear initially.

Moreover, not only hunting and fishing but outdoor activities, in general, have a substantial market. Americans spent more than $394 billion on such activities, including hiking, birdwatching, and others. However, many of these industries are still offline or rely on dated technology, making it challenging for individuals to access the information they need. I had a disappointing personal experience when I wanted to hike Sedona, Arizona’s popular Devil’s Bridge trail and struggled to find parking. I had to piece together information from various blogs just to see if I needed a parking permit.

Fortunately, case studies like Mallard Bay prove that demand for these outdoor-focused applications exists. Strava, a popular app for runners and bikers, boasts over 100 million users. Furthermore, applications that connect individuals with a common outdoor activity, like fishing, have shown significant traction. Fishbrain, a social media app for fishers, has recorded more than 14 million caught fish since its launch 12 years ago.

Meaux is well aware of the potential for growth in this market, and despite Mallard Bay’s achievements thus far, he believes there is still ample opportunity to capture more of the market and expand Guidetech’s capabilities further.

“I like to say that we have experienced some success, but we are not successful yet,” Meaux shared. “This is something I learned from my father, who always believed that even after achieving success, there is still work to be done. Our journey at Mallard Bay continues, and we are eager to see what the future holds.”