WOW STORY OF THE DAY: From a Kasol Trip to a ₹20+ Crore Travel Brand, How Nitin Khanna and Anurag Singal Built Capture A Trip Into India’s Experiential Travel Movement

When a Journey Sparked a Movement

• A mountain trail in Kasol.
• A group of strangers becoming friends.
• A moment that revealed the true power of shared travel.

For Nitin Khanna, that experience unlocked a powerful insight: travel becomes unforgettable when it is experienced together. That realization would eventually grow into Capture A Trip, one of India’s rising experiential travel startups.

The Origin Story: A Kasol Trip That Changed Everything

• The idea for Capture A Trip was born during one of Nitin Khanna’s own journeys to Kasol in Himachal Pradesh, where he experienced firsthand how strangers bonded through shared travel experiences. 
• The trip revealed a gap in India’s travel ecosystem. While travel agencies focused on bookings and logistics, there was very little emphasis on community-driven experiences, especially for young travellers and solo explorers.
• Inspired by that insight, Khanna launched Capture A Trip in 2016, later joined by co-founder Anurag Singal. The goal was simple yet powerful:
• Create a platform where people could travel together, explore together, and build meaningful connections while discovering new destinations. 
• What started as a small travel initiative quickly evolved into a structured travel community focused on curated group experiences.

Turning Travel Into a Community

• Capture A Trip didn’t position itself as a traditional travel agency.
• Instead, the founders built the company around a powerful idea: experiential travel.

Rather than selling flights or hotel bookings, the brand focused on community-led journeys designed for:

•    First-time travellers
•    Solo explorers
•    Young professionals seeking meaningful travel experiences

• The company curated trips across destinations such as Ladakh, Spiti Valley, Meghalaya, and international locations, ensuring safety, guided itineraries, and strong community engagement.
• This positioning resonated strongly with India’s young travellers, who increasingly value experiences and connections over conventional tourism packages. 
• By turning travel into a shared experience rather than a transaction, Capture A Trip created strong customer loyalty and repeat bookings.

A Bold Move: Letting the Community Invest

• One of the most unconventional strategies the company introduced was its BYOB (Be Your Own Boss) funding model.
• Through this initiative, the startup invited members of its own travel community to invest in the business and become small shareholders. 

This strategy accomplished two powerful outcomes:

• It allowed the company to raise early capital.
• It transformed customers into brand advocates and stakeholders.

Few travel startups had attempted a community-ownership model, making this a defining strategic move in Capture A Trip’s journey.

The Turning Point: Shark Tank India

• Capture A Trip’s national breakthrough came when the founders appeared on Shark Tank India Season 5.
• During the pitch, the founders presented their experiential travel model and strong growth numbers to the investors.
• After negotiations, the company secured ₹75 lakh for 5% equity from Kunal Bahl and Mohit Yadav, valuing the startup at ₹15 crore. 
• The exposure from Shark Tank introduced the brand to millions of viewers and accelerated its visibility in India’s startup ecosystem.

Scale, Numbers & Market Momentum

• Capture A Trip has rapidly grown into one of India’s most dynamic community-travel companies.
• The startup’s growth trajectory reflects the rising demand for experience-driven tourism among young Indians.

Key milestones include:

• Revenue: ₹20.4 crore in FY25
• Projected revenue: Around ₹45 crore expected in FY26
• Growth: Approximately 166% year-on-year growth
• Bookings: Around 50 travel packages booked daily through the platform
• Travellers: Over 6,000 explorers travelled with the brand in 2025 alone
• Community: More than 50,000 travellers served overall through its trips and travel programs 

The company now organizes curated domestic and international travel experiences, catering to India’s growing segment of solo travellers and young professionals.

The Bigger Lesson

• The Capture A Trip story reveals a powerful entrepreneurial insight:
• Experiences build stronger businesses than transactions.
• Nitin Khanna did not simply launch a travel company.

He built a community around exploration.

• By transforming travel into a shared journey where strangers become friends and memories become stories the brand created a powerful emotional connection with its customers.
• And in a world where experiences increasingly matter more than possessions, Capture A Trip is proving that community-driven travel is the future of tourism.

Sources: Startup Pedia, Indian Startup News, Venture Intelligence, Capture A Trip Official Website, Tourism Quest, The Print