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Lost In has raised $4 million and closed an acquisition to build a travel media brand, CEO Jonathan Skogmo exclusively tells Axios. 

Why it matters: The funding bets on the digital media veterans' ability to innovate in the fragmented sector of travel coverage.

How it works: Skogmo says Lost In plans to serve the "premium economy traveler" — young working professionals who are affluent, from urban cities and prioritize travel as part of their lifestyle.

The Los Angeles-based company has nine staffers, including the three co-founders — Jonathan Skogmo is CEO, his brother Mike is CMO and Anton Reut is COO. 

The initial strategy is a roll-up of assets, Skogmo says. The startup's name comes from its first acquisition — a Berlin-based travel guidebook publisher with 25 volumes that was founded in 2014. The founders are staying on to run the print publication business.

Future acquisitions could include social media accounts with large followings that are underutilized and other existing travel media brands, Skogmo says. It plans to produce its own content and license content from creators that will be monetized through advertising.

Context: In 2009, Skogmo founded Jukin Media as a digital media company that aggregated and monetized viral videos from across online platforms. 

Trusted Media Brands, the publisher of Reader's Digest, Family Handyman and Taste of Home, acquired Jukin in 2021. 

Mike Skogmo, who led communications and marketing for Jukin, later left the new parent company to travel to 22 countries over seven months. That trip helped inspire the business.

What they're saying: Jonathan Skogmo says an issue with legacy publishers is they are "hemorrhaging money" with expensive travel budgets and prioritizing glossy magazines over digital audiences. 

"I think there's a great opportunity to leverage people who are already on the ground, already great storytellers [and] curate and aggregate the best ones under a very particular lens," Skogmo says.

Zoom in: MaC Venture Capital led the seed round and was joined by BDMI, Pitbull Ventures, Pocket.Watch founder Chris Williams, Fullscreen founder George Strompolos, Hawke Media founder Erik Huberman, Skybound founder David Alpert, Kombo Ventures' Kevin Gould, Richard Wolpert, Matthew Rutler and others.

For the guidebook acquisition that closed on June 25, ADVANT Beiten and Sklar Kirsh served as legal advisers to the buyer and Flick Gocke Schaumburg represented the seller. Digital Media Capital Advisors' Rob Levy served as financial adviser to the buyer.

What's next: Skogmo says he plans to raise more money later this year to fund other acquisitions. 

Exclusive: Former Jukin execs raise $4M for travel media brand

Lost In's first acquisition is a German travel guidebook publisher.

Illustration of a beach chair and palm tree made out of money.

Digital content

Lost In has raised $4 million and closed an acquisition to build a travel media brand, CEO Jonathan Skogmo exclusively tells Axios. Why it matters: The funding bets on the digital media veterans&#x27; ability to innovate in the fragmented sector of travel coverage.

Exclusive: Former Jukin execs raise $4M for travel media brand

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