Wheel the World lands $3.5M Series A extension to map accessible travel
What's the deal? Wheel the WorldDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Berkeley-based accessible travel platform, has raised $3.5 million in a Series A round announced in February 2026. Enable VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the financing, joined by Kayyak VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, VulcanoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, WeBoostDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Samaritan PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Impacta VCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Miles PartnershipDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Former ExpediaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → chief executive Erik BlachfordDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and former Booking.com chief executive Gillian TansDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → both joined as angel investors. The round brings the company's total equity funding to roughly $19 million since its 2017 founding by two Chilean entrepreneurs.
What's the endgame? Wheel the World is not competing head-on with Expedia or Booking.com. Instead, it is building a verified database of accessibility information — sending auditors, often people with disabilities, to physically inspect hotels, restaurants, museums, and trails.
Those auditors measure doorway widths, test grab bars, and document staff training. The data covers more than 200 destinations and 8,000 travel services, packaged into a "Destination Verified" seal.
Why now? The company has built "Accessibility Verified" partnerships with over 150 organisations across 21 US states, turning destination marketing groups into data partners. Mesa, Arizona became the first certified city in November 2023; Oregon became the first state in September 2025.
What's the funding history? A $2 million seed round in August 2021, led by ChileGlobal Ventures and Dadneo, included checks from Plug and Play Ventures and then-YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki. A $6 million pre-Series A SAFE followed in March 2023, led by Kayyak.
The signal: Industry estimates put the global accessible travel market at around $120 billion, with US travellers with disabilities spending $58.7 billion in 2018-2019, per Open Doors data. Roughly 16% of the world's population lives with some form of disability — yet verified accessibility data remains scarce. Wheel the World is betting that infrastructure, not another booking app, is where the value lies.
Read more: Founderland
Image credit: w_lemay
