Polina Raygorodskaya formed Wanderu seven years ago with her co-founder Igor Bratnikov.

The idea for the business was to build a platform for travelers to book bus tickets in North America - a vision that has evolved over time to include rail.

Not content with building a network of partnerships in its domestic markets, Wanderu expanded to Europe in 2017.

The growth of the business has been achieved through fairly modest levels of funding (single million digit range) for today's venture-backed online travel startup community.

Raygorodskaya's experience as a female entrepreneur in the sector has been soured somewhat with disappointing reactions from the male-dominated world of VCs over the years.

But that hasn't diminished both her drive (the opposite, in fact) and achievements to-date.

These issues and many details about the formation and evolution of the company are discussed in this episode of the podcast.

HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.

Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Personal experiences and hearing stories from family members and friends - countless travel startups have been created this way.

Freebird is one such brand that was formed from the frustrations of its founder, Ethan Bernstein, who saw how miserable it was for himself and his friends when a flight was canceled and how struggled to get rebooked.

The idea and eventual service came about in 2015 and the company has not looked back, having raised around $16 million over a number of investment rounds and secured a profile in the minds of business travelers and their travel management companies.

Bernstein's journey from idea through development, raising money and becoming an established brand is what makes Freebird an interesting story.

HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.

Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Personal experiences and hearing stories from family members and friends - countless travel startups have been created this way.

Freebird is one such brand that was formed from the frustrations of its founder, Ethan Bernstein, who saw how miserable it was for himself and his friends when a flight was canceled and how struggled to get rebooked.

The idea and eventual service came about in 2015 and the company has not looked back, having raised around $16 million over a number of investment rounds and secured a profile in the minds of business travelers and their travel management companies.

Bernstein's journey from idea through development, raising money and becoming an established brand is what makes Freebird an interesting story.

HIGH is a weekly show produced by PhocusWire and Mozio, aimed at getting the inside stories behind startups and innovation in travel and transportation.

Other episodes: on PhocusWire and Mozio.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.