Vayable
DefunctYC S12San Francisco, US · Founded 2011 · 2 employees · 3 known investors
Vayable is a marketplace that connects travelers with locally-offered experiences and activities from independent operators around the world.
Also known as Vayable, Inc.
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S12)
Vayable was founded in 2011 by Jamie Wong.
Investors · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Vayable was an online marketplace for discovering, buying and selling unique travel experiences, activities and extended trips offered by independent companies and local experts worldwide. Listings spanned categories such as design, photography and street art experiences, ethnic food tours, private dinners, backroad wine tastings and underground history tours.
The company was headquartered in San Francisco and categorized under collaborative consumption, marketplace, peer-to-peer and travel. It was one of the earliest peer-to-peer experience-finding platforms, positioning itself as a global platform for real-life, local-led experiences.
Vayable ceased operations in November 2019. Founder Jamie Wong stated that the company's majority investor, Erik Blachford, was simultaneously seeking an investing partner with a founder/operator background, and that the two jointly decided to wind Vayable down while Wong joined Pine5 Ventures as a partner. Some individual guides who had used the platform later formed their own companies and continued offering experiences.
Founding story
The company was founded by Jamie Wong, who served as Founder/CEO. Sources differ on the founding year: Y Combinator's profile lists 2011, while an industry publication states 2010. The premise was to build a global marketplace for local-led tours, activities and experiences that would let locals earn income from their time and knowledge.
Business model
Vayable operated a two-sided online marketplace: local experts and independent tour companies listed experiences, and travelers discovered and booked them through the platform. The stated mission was to let locals monetize their time and knowledge as a new source of income.
Marketplace model based on travelers buying experiences listed by local guides and independent operators; specific take-rate or fee terms are not stated in the sources.
Traction
Sources report a small team (2 people per Y Combinator; 1-10 employees per a travel-tech directory), seed stage, and approximately $2.1M raised across four rounds from five investors. No user, booking or revenue figures are disclosed.
Latest developments
Vayable shut down in November 2019, posting a farewell message on its website with links to other experience-focused platforms. Founder Jamie Wong became a partner at Pine5 Ventures, an early-stage consumer tech VC firm whose portfolio includes travel companies such as TourRadar, Travelingspoon and Tastemakers Africa. A travel-tech directory recorded the company as not operating as of 2 April 2020.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
An early entrant in the peer-to-peer tours, activities and experiences category. Industry coverage noted that Arival's 2019 Guide to Digital Distributors identified upwards of 18 companies offering local-led experiences similar to Vayable, including Withlocals (which had raised more than €12M) and Airbnb Experiences, while GetYourGuide began as a peer-to-peer platform before pivoting to a more traditional online travel agency marketplace model. Commentary framed scaling supply as the central unresolved challenge for the peer-to-peer model.
Vayable focused on peer-to-peer, local-led and culturally distinctive experiences supplied by individuals and small independent operators, rather than standard packaged tourist tours sold by conventional online travel agencies.
Go-to-market
Self-service listing and discovery: guides and independent operators could list trips directly on vayable.com, while travelers browsed and booked through the same site.
Travelers seeking authentic, culturally distinctive local experiences, and on the supply side local experts, independent guides and small tour companies.
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, with experience listings offered worldwide.
History
Vayable was founded by Jamie Wong (source [2] states 2010; Y Combinator lists a founding year of 2011) and took part in Y Combinator's Summer 2012 batch. It operated as a seed-stage company based in San Francisco with a small team, and according to one directory had raised roughly $2.1M across four rounds from five investors. After nearly a decade of operation the platform shut down in November 2019, replacing its site with a farewell page pointing visitors to other experience marketplaces; a directory listing separately recorded the company as no longer operating as of 2 April 2020.
Risks & controversies
Coverage of the shutdown highlighted the difficulty of scaling peer-to-peer experience marketplaces — specifically whether such platforms can acquire enough individual suppliers with compelling experiences, and whether travelers prefer individual local experiences over classic touristic ones. Vayable was described as not the first peer-to-peer platform to close.
Compiled by commissioned research from 3 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsVayable ceased operations in November 2019 after nearly a decade, replacing its website with a farewell landing page linking to other experience-focused sites. Founder Jamie Wong and majority investor Erik Blachford jointly decided to wind the company down.
Following the wind-down of Vayable, Wong joined early-stage consumer tech VC firm Pine5 Ventures as a partner, alongside Vayable majority investor Erik Blachford.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 3
primary sources listed
- Vayable: We're building a marketplace for unique travel experiences (it's… | Y Combinatorycombinator.com · web
3 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Vayable do?
- San Francisco marketplace for local-led travel experiences, founded by Jamie Wong; a YC S12 company that shut down in November 2019.
- Who founded Vayable?
- Vayable was founded by Jamie Wong in 2011.
- Who are Vayable's investors?
- Vayable's investors include Y Combinator, 500 Global, SV Angel.
- Where is Vayable headquartered?
- Vayable is headquartered in San Francisco, US.