Camping was already a booming industry before the pandemic of 2020 hit. Still, after the world was brought to a halt by a raging virus, people were forced to rethink many recreation and vacation ideas.
Sales of RVs and campers took off amidst a call for human beings to stop gathering in groups and isolate themselves with their families. And so began a turn of events that would become a silver lining in a life-altering pandemic.
Businessmen and women seized the opportunities wisely, among them Rapper and recording executive Jay-Z and his business partners.
Who Is Jay-Z?
Shawn Corey Carter, known in the entertainment industry as “Jay-Z,” is one of the most famous hip-hop artists in American history.
In addition to being a best-selling music artist, he’s founded numerous business enterprises from a clothing line to a chain of luxury sports bars, (both of which have become multi-million dollar corporations), to an entertainment company, a tech company, and a media streaming service.
Jay-Z is not only an extraordinary artist but also a successful businessman.
Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners Invests in Hipcamp
San Francisco-based Marcy Venture Partners, the venture capital firm co-founded by Jay-Z and business partners Jay Brown and Larry Marcus in 2019, gave a solemn nod to Hipcamp, a business venture known as “the Airbnb of camping” by investing in this online camping marketplace.
What Is Marcy Venture Partners?
Marcy Venture Partners is a venture capital firm founded in March of 2019. It’s named for the Marcy Projects, a public housing complex where Jay-Z grew up.
The firm has done an unprecedented amount of investing for a VC firm in its early years, but its co-founders were all very familiar with the venture capital world.
Jay Brown co-founded Roc Nation with Jay-Z and has invested in companies like BeautyCon and Right Rice. Jay-Z has backed Uber and Impossible Foods. And Larry Marcus is the director of Walden Venture Capital, which invested in Pandora and SoundHound. He has backed companies like Netflix and BandPage as an angel investor.
So Marcy Venture Partners is a group of well-poised investors whose nod to Hipcamp is a powerful endorsement.
What Is Hipcamp?
Hipcamp is an online marketplace that invites travelers to book unique camping experiences at over 430,000 places. Users can search the platform in several ways using various filters for camping options. From glamping sites to oceanside camping, the options are endless.
The platform allows landowners to rent out campsites just as Airbnb allows people to rent out their homes.
How Hipcamp Works
Hipcamp joins campers with landowners in a symbiotic relationship.
All a landowner needs to start earning money is a flat piece of land and access to nature’s beauty. It’s free for a landowner to place a listing with Hipcamp. They set the fee, host when they want, and are paid by Hipcamp via direct deposit every week. Hipcamp insures its hosts for up to $1 million in general liability.
Campers use Hipcamp’s online platform to search areas and amenities that interest them.
From the Hipcamp website: “By creating opportunities for landowners to earn money hosting nature lovers, Hipcamp works to support those who care for the land and get more people out under the stars.”
What This Partnership Might Mean for Hipcamp and Camping in General
The fact that Jay-Z has seen Hipcamp worthy of their investment is an excellent boon for Hipcamp. These are highly successful venture capitalists who understand viable business models, and they see Hipcamp as an exciting concept with the potential for a significant return-on-interest.
This not only gives Hipcamp a great endorsement but is an endorsement of camping in general. Celebrity endorsements are, for whatever reason, intriguing to potential patrons of any business. But Jay-Z is not just another celebrity. He’s a serious venture capitalist who has a proven track record of successful investments. His interest and endorsement indicate two things: that Hipcamp is a worthwhile endeavor and that camping is cool!
The Rising Trend of Camping and Outdoor Recreation
The popularity of camping and outdoor recreation is on the rise, and that’s a wonderful thing! Various camping trends (glamping, treehouse camping, Hipcamp, and other platforms like it) have increased the level of interest beyond traditional campers and RVers.
The pandemic has seen a rise in people enjoying the outdoors out of necessity. Still, the hope is that people are coming to understand the outdoors’ allure.
With Hipcamp getting his nod, we see great things ahead for that venture and for the camping industry in general.
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