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Japan: Japanese outdoor lodging startup Earthship, which aims to offer immersive experiences in national parks with its cabins, has completed an undisclosed pre-seed funding round.
The round was supported by angel investors from Japan, Singapore, the UK and the United States, according to a press release.
Earthship plans to use the funding to establish its first flagship base in Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park [a national park at the intersections of Saitama, Yamanashi, Nagano and Tokyo Prefectures] before expanding its tourism model across Japan and further into Asia and across the world.
The brand has already set out a minimum five-year plan to expand its model into Nikko National Park, Oze National Park, Yakushima National Park, Kerama Islands National Park [all Japan] and Kui Buri National Park [Thailand].
Prioritising an “asset-light, operations-light, and staff-light” business model, Earthship operates by using trailer homes which are classified as accommodation. These homes are designed to minimise the impact on nature and revitalise local communities while protecting the natural environment. Founded earlier this year, the startup says that its model is both “efficient and scalable”, since it does not require large capital investments nor complex operational structures to grow with the communities it works alongside.
Furthermore, it works by leasing land from local landowners and businesses, and adopting a revenue-sharing model, thus ensuring it can effectively utilise local resources and keep land acquisition costs down. The operator sells trailer homes and distributes operating revenue to buyers, while outsourcing cleaning, maintenance and other tasks to local businesses
With approximately 68 per cent of Japan covered in forests and 70 per cent of the country being mountainous, Earthship believes that the natural environment makes it a prime destination for eco-conscious travellers, as well as those in search of adventure tourism. At the same time, many tourism resources in Japan are not being adequately utilised according to Earthship, due to strict developmental regulations for large-scale tourism and real estate projects.
Earthship’s members are currently spread across Tokyo, Nagano and Oita in Japan, as well as in Australia, as it seeks to accelerate its growth phase off the back of its pre-seed round.
