Wheel the World raises $2M to provide unlimited experiences for travelers with limited accessibility

Friends Alvaro Silberstein and Camilo Navarro came up with the idea for the Wheel the World travel booking site following a 2016 trip to Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Initially, they thought this type of trip would be near impossible with Silberstein in a wheelchair after a car accident as a teenager left him paralyzed.

Turns out it became the trip of a lifetime thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign to finance a scouting trip and the purchase of a state-of-the-art hiking wheelchair. Silberstein said with the help of Navarro and other friends, he became the first to complete the Patagonia trek by wheelchair.

Then in 2018 while in graduate school at UC Berkeley, they decided to launch Wheel the World so that others in similar situations as Silberstein could find accessible travel experiences.

Three years later, about 1,300 people have booked trips through the Berkeley, California-based company’s website, which offers over 400 listings to more than 50 destinations. On Monday, they announced $2 million in a seed round led by Chile Global Ventures and Dadneo, with the support of Plug N Play Ventures and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

“We have a clear belief and purpose to make the world accessible,” Silberstein said.