Retreat Guru
Retreat Guru operates a two-sided global marketplace connecting retreat-seekers with 4,000+ wellness centers and teachers offering yoga, meditation, plant medicine, and transformative retreats, monetizing via a 14% booking commission and offering RMS SaaS for hosts.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersNelson, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Retreat Guru does
Retreat Guru operates a two-sided global online marketplace connecting individuals seeking transformative experiences — including yoga, meditation, plant medicine, and wellness retreats — with the retreat centers, teachers, and centers offering those experiences. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Nelson, Canada, the company curates 4,000+ retreat centers, 10,000+ teachers, and 10,000+ listings accessible to a self-reported community of 500,000+ retreat-goers, drawing approximately 1M+ unique annual visitors and 1.4M+ page views. The platform is web-based and accessible globally across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Africa.
The company runs two product lines. The core Retreat Guru Marketplace is a web-based discovery and booking platform that surfaces retreats by topic, location, price tier, and rating, and it extends into online experiences beyond in-person retreats. The complementary Retreat Guru RMS is a Retreat Management System — separate software used by retreat centers for booking, registration, and operational management — which is sold to hosts and creates adjacency between marketplace demand and SaaS supply-side tooling. No proprietary AI/ML capabilities, APIs, SDKs, third-party integrations, or patent portfolio are disclosed; the stack reads as a standard curated marketplace plus a vertical SaaS module.
Retreat Guru's revenue comes almost entirely from a marketplace commission: retreat hosts list for free with zero upfront advertising costs, and the company charges a 14% commission on the total price of verified bookings sourced through the platform, collected as a deposit at the time of booking. Revenue is therefore tied directly to platform-sourced GMV. The company monetizes demand-side attention through top-of-funnel content marketing (a blog covering yoga, meditation, plant medicine, trauma, and burnout topics), organic search, organic social, and editorial coverage in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times; it also offers host-side professional services to optimize listings. The company is privately held, founder-led by Cameron Wenaus (CEO & co-founder) and Deryk Wenaus (CTO & co-founder), with CPO Sari Harrison and CFO Harumi Kambara; it has raised approximately $1.42M in disclosed funding since 2014, with the last round in March 2018.
Retreat Guru firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Retreat Guru
- Legal name
- Retreat Guru
- Website
- https://retreat.guru
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Retreat Guru operates a two-sided global marketplace connecting retreat-seekers with 4,000+ wellness centers and teachers offering yoga, meditation, plant medicine, and transformative retreats, monetizing via a 14% booking commission and offering RMS SaaS for hosts.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Retreat Guru industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Travel Marketplace
- NAICS
- Tour Operators (561520), Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (56159)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Management Services (8741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Wellness, Spa & Retreat Travel Agencies (THAKAFAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Wellness Retreats & Immersions (Multi-day, Digital Detox, Mind-Body Programs) (THAJAHAB), Yoga & Meditation Experiences (Studio Classes, Guided Meditation, Mindfulness) (THAJAHAA)
Keywords
Where Retreat Guru is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nelson
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Retreat Guru business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Marketplace Commission: Retreat Guru charges a 14% commission on the total price of retreats when guests find and book through their marketplace. The commission is collected as a deposit from participants at booking time. Hosts receive the remainder of the retreat balance through their normal registration process.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Host Listing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Retreat Guru product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Retreat Guru operates a global online marketplace that connects retreat seekers with retreat centers, teachers, and hosts offering yoga, meditation, plant medicine, and wellness retreats. The platform lets hosts list retreats for free and earns revenue by charging a 14% commission on bookings made through the marketplace. It also offers Retreat Guru RMS, an integrated retreat management software solution for retreat centers to streamline bookings, registrations, and operations.
Product overview
Retreat Guru operates as a two-part platform: the core Retreat Guru Marketplace for retreat-seekers to discover and book transformative experiences (yoga, meditation, plant medicine, wellness retreats), and the complementary Retreat Guru RMS (Retreat Management System) for retreat hosts to manage their business operations. The marketplace features 4000+ retreats worldwide, while the RMS is an all-in-one software solution for retreat center management.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Retreat Guru RMS: Retreat Management System - a fully integrated and unified software solution built exclusively for retreat centers to streamline operations
Products and services
- Retreat Guru Marketplace A curated global online marketplace where retreat seekers discover, browse, and book transformative experiences including yoga, meditation, plant medicine, healing, and wellness retreats listed by retreat centers and teachers worldwide. Hosts list unlimited retreats for free, and the platform retains a 14% commission on bookings made through the marketplace.
- Retreat Guru RMS (Retreat Management System)
Companies that use Retreat Guru
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Retreat Guru technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Retreat Guru partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators7 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Retreat Guru competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Airbnb Experiences: Broad incumbent travel marketplace extending into hosted experiences and retreats — comparable discovery and booking UX, with vastly larger capital base and brand.
- Mindbody: Large SaaS platform for wellness and fitness businesses (studios, spas, retreats) — comparable customer base of retreat/wellness operators and competes for the RMS software layer.
- GetYourGuide: Global tours and experiences marketplace with a growing wellness/retreat category — comparable two-sided marketplace mechanics and consumer-facing booking flow.
- Viator: Major experiences marketplace owned by Tripadvisor — competes for the same discovery-and-book intent across wellness, tours, and immersive travel.
Emerging players
- ClassPass: Subscription platform giving users access to wellness and fitness classes and studios — overlapping wellness-consumer persona and emerging retreat-style programming.
- Vagaro: Booking and management software for salons, spas, and wellness businesses — adjacent software layer comparable to Retreat Guru RMS for retreat centers.
Direct peers
- BookYogaRetreats: Niche retreat marketplace focused on yoga, meditation, and wellness experiences — comparable inventory, comparable traveler audience, and similar booking/listing economics.
- Tripaneer: Specialized marketplace for wellness retreats, yoga retreats, and teacher training — directly comparable niche retreat-booking marketplace with similar supplier base.
- WellnessRetreats.com: Specialist wellness retreat booking platform operating a curated marketplace for health and wellness retreats globally — competing head-on for the same retreat-seeker demand pool.
- BookRetreats: Another global online retreat marketplace where retreat centers list and travelers book wellness retreats — directly comparable two-sided marketplace model with similar commission-based monetization.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Retreat Guru social profiles
Digital presenceRetreat Guru financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Retreat Guru leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Retreat Guru funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Retreat Guru M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Retreat Guru
What does Retreat Guru do?
Retreat Guru operates a global online marketplace that connects retreat seekers with retreat centers, teachers, and hosts offering yoga, meditation, plant medicine, and wellness retreats. The platform lets hosts list retreats for free and earns revenue by charging a 14% commission on bookings made through the marketplace. It also offers Retreat Guru RMS, an integrated retreat management software solution for retreat centers to streamline bookings, registrations, and operations.
Is Retreat Guru a public or private company?
Retreat Guru is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Retreat Guru founded?
Retreat Guru was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Retreat Guru based?
Retreat Guru is headquartered in Nelson, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Retreat Guru make money?
One revenue line is on record: marketplace Commission.
Who are Retreat Guru's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Airbnb Experiences, Mindbody, GetYourGuide and Viator. Emerging players are ClassPass and Vagaro. Direct peers are BookYogaRetreats, Tripaneer, WellnessRetreats.com and BookRetreats.
Does Retreat Guru have an API?
No public API is recorded for Retreat Guru.
What industry is Retreat Guru in?
Retreat Guru's product category is Online Travel Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAFAI, Wellness, Spa & Retreat Travel Agencies, with a secondary code of THAJAHAB, Wellness Retreats & Immersions (Multi-day, Digital Detox, Mind-Body Programs). Its NAICS code is 561520 and its SIC code is 7900.