SKYNAV
SKYNAV builds a web-based, 3D 360° sky-to-ground immersive media platform for destination marketing organizations, resorts, planned communities, and event venues, integrating AI-powered trip planning (navi), info beacons, booking hooks, and WebVR viewing across devices.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What SKYNAV does
SKYNAV, LLC is a privately held US company that builds a web-based, 3D 360° immersive media platform used by destination marketing organizations, convention and visitor bureaus, resorts, planned communities, event venues, and universities to market destinations and properties. The platform delivers sky-to-ground aerial-to-ground panoramic imagery with interactive info beacons, integrated video, social sharing, e-commerce and reservation hooks, Google Analytics tracking, and a no-app WebVR viewing experience accessible across desktop, tablet, mobile, and VR headsets. A branded AI assistant called 'navi' provides location-aware, scene-grounded conversational recommendations inside the tour, and SKYNAV has introduced a proprietary Stay Extension Factor (SXF) benchmark metric combining retention and conversion analytics to quantify tourism ROI.
The company originates from SISDigital, a Wilmington, North Carolina digital agency, with the SkyNav product announced in December 2016 and first deployed by the Wilmington and Beaches CVB in May 2017. SKYNAV operates from a San Francisco (North Bay) headquarters and a Wilmington, NC office, and was rebranded in July 2020 under the #NAVigatingOurFuture campaign. Revenue is generated primarily through one-time project licensing of custom tours (base pricing starts at $2,500, scaling by panoramas, beacons, and premium features such as AR and reservation integrations), with extended payment plans offered to qualified travel and leisure clients. Distribution is enterprise-led via direct field sales supported by channel partners Simpleview (designated Global Travel Software Partner), Brand Central Solutions, and Tempest, complemented by industry events (Destinations International, Simpleview Summit), content marketing, and a gated e-book funnel.
Ownership is concentrated among founders and the leadership team. Ty Downing serves as CEO and originated the platform through SISDigital; Tim Moore, an AR/VR and wearable-technology entrepreneur, joined the board in March 2019. The company is FAA Part 107 and NCDOT certified for drone operations and completed a WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility initiative in December 2025. Awards include 2024 Davey Gold and AVA Platinum for the Visit Los Cabos virtual aerial tour. No institutional funding rounds, M&A activity, or revenue figures have been publicly disclosed.
SKYNAV firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SKYNAV
- Legal name
- SKYNAV, LLC
- Website
- https://skynav.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- SKYNAV builds a web-based, 3D 360° sky-to-ground immersive media platform for destination marketing organizations, resorts, planned communities, and event venues, integrating AI-powered trip planning (navi), info beacons, booking hooks, and WebVR viewing across devices.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SKYNAV industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Immersive Virtual Tour Software
- NAICS
- Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Tour Operators (56152)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Lodging & Vacation Rental Booking Platforms (BPAMAIAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Island, Beach & Resort Travel Agencies (THAKAFAL), Remote/Alternative Accommodation Management (Cabins, Tiny Homes, Glamping) (BPAJAIAG)
Keywords
Where SKYNAV is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
SKYNAV business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Virtual Tour Licensing / One-Time Sale: SKYNAV creates custom sky-to-ground 360-degree virtual tours for clients (DMOs, communities, resorts, venues). Pricing starts at $2,500 for initial configurations and scales based on the number of aerial panoramas, ground panoramas, and info beacons. This is the primary revenue stream, described as a one-time licensing/fee structure per tour.
- Platform Features & Add-Ons: Clients can add premium features such as custom tours, AR integration, integrated reservations, e-commerce integration, and pop-up maps, which increase the total project cost.
- Payment Program / Financing: SKYNAV offered extended payment plans (6–8 months) to qualified travel & leisure clients to make tours more accessible, suggesting a financing option or subscription-like arrangement for some clients.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Base tour starting price |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Enterprise / custom tour packages |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
SKYNAV product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SKYNAV develops a 3D, 360° immersive media platform that creates sky-to-ground WebVR virtual tours accessible via web browser on desktop, tablet, and mobile without app installation. The platform serves destination marketing organizations, resorts, planned communities, event venues, and campuses with interactive panoramas, info beacons, integrated booking, Google Analytics tracking, and an AI trip assistant named "navi." Revenue is generated through custom-built tour projects licensed to enterprise clients in the travel, leisure, hospitality, and real estate sectors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SXF (Stay Extension Factor): A proprietary benchmark metric for tourism ROI, combining Eye-Inspiring Retention (EIR) and Visual-Impact Conversion (VIC) points to measure the revenue impact of extended visitor stays.
- navi
- navi
Products and services
- SKYNAV Immersive Virtual Tour Platform A 3D, 360° immersive media platform that creates sky-to-ground WebVR virtual tours accessible via web browser on desktop, tablet, and mobile without app installation, used by destination marketing organizations, resorts, planned communities, event venues, and campuses to drive visitor engagement and bookings. Includes interactive info beacons, Google Analytics tracking, social sharing, and e-commerce/booking integrations.
Quantifiable outcome
- 400% average increase in time on site vs. traditional web pages
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use SKYNAV
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
SKYNAV technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature8 records
SKYNAV partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship / core and regional.
- TempestcoreTempest is a digital solutions provider for destination organizations. They partnered with Visit Shenandoah Texas to rebuild the city's destination website, integrating SKYNAV aerial tours along with Threshold 360 virtual tours and Mindtrip AI-powered trip planner. Tempest is listed as a 'How did you hear about us?' option on SKYNAV's Book a Demo form.
- Greater Zion Convention & Tourism Officeflagship / coreGreater Zion Convention & Tourism Office partnered with SKYNAV to launch 'SKYNAV Immersive,' an AI-powered virtual trip-planning experience providing 360-degree aerial-to-ground views of Zion National Park, Utah state parks, hiking trails, and 14 golf courses in the region. The experience features SKYNAV's AI assistant 'navi' for personalized recommendations. This is a co-developed, branded immersive platform for Washington County, Utah.
- Simpleviewflagship / coreSimpleview is SKYNAV's designated 'Global Travel Software Partner.' Simpleview provides CRM, CMS, website design, digital marketing services, and data insights for convention bureaus, DMOs, venues, tourism boards, and attractions globally. SKYNAV's virtual tours are integrated into Simpleview's CMS platform and promoted through Simpleview's partner network to their DMO/CVB client base. The companies co-published a press release on the partnership.
- Brand Central SolutionsregionalBrand Central Solutions is SKYNAV's 'SouthWest Partner.' The company applies leading technology to achieve centralized brand simplicity for clients through business units and partner networks. They serve as a regional go-to-market partner for SKYNAV in the Southwest US market.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SKYNAV competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pano2VR: Pano2VR is a desktop-based virtual tour authoring tool from Garden Gnome Software used to create interactive 360° experiences for tourism, real estate, and education. It competes on the tour creation and publishing workflow that SKYNAV's WebVR platform targets.
- CloudPano: CloudPano is a self-serve 360° virtual tour software platform with similar publishing, branding, and lead-capture capabilities. It serves many of the same real estate and SMB marketing customers as SKYNAV.
- Matterport: Matterport is the market-leading spatial data platform for 3D virtual tours across real estate, hospitality, and facilities. It directly competes with SKYNAV in the immersive tour category and serves many of the same verticals (real estate, hospitality, travel).
- Kuula: Kuula is a hosted 360° virtual tour platform widely used by real estate photographers and destination marketers to publish interactive panoramas. It competes with SKYNAV on the core 360° tour hosting and sharing functionality.
- VPix360: VPix360 provides immersive 360° virtual tours for real estate, hospitality, and venue marketing with viewer analytics. It overlaps with SKYNAV on the analytics-rich, marketing-oriented 360° tour use case.
- Lapentor: Lapentor is a 360° virtual tour platform focused on hospitality, travel, and real estate marketing with online booking and ecommerce integrations. It is comparable to SKYNAV in serving hotels, rentals, and tourism businesses with booking-enabled virtual tours.
- EyeSpy360: EyeSpy360 is a virtual tour platform that builds 360° and 3D tours for real estate, hospitality, and business clients. It overlaps directly with SKYNAV in the 360° tour creation space and competes for the same DMO, resort, and community buyer segments.
- Threshold 360: Threshold 360 provides aerial and ground-level 360° virtual tours specifically for destination marketing organizations, resorts, and real estate. It is the closest head-to-head competitor to SKYNAV and is even referenced alongside SKYNAV in Tempest-built destination websites.
Emerging players
- Mindtrip: Mindtrip is an AI-powered trip planning platform deployed alongside SKYNAV tours on Tempest-built destination websites. It is an emerging adjacent player whose AI itinerary features compete/overlap with SKYNAV's 'navi' assistant.
- iStaging: iStaging offers VR/AR experiences, including virtual tours and showrooms for real estate, retail, and events. It is an adjacent emerging player in the immersive tour space with similar technology but somewhat narrower adoption.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SKYNAV social profiles
Digital presenceSKYNAV financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SKYNAV leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
SKYNAV funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SKYNAV 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 SKYNAV
What does SKYNAV do?
SKYNAV develops a 3D, 360° immersive media platform that creates sky-to-ground WebVR virtual tours accessible via web browser on desktop, tablet, and mobile without app installation. The platform serves destination marketing organizations, resorts, planned communities, event venues, and campuses with interactive panoramas, info beacons, integrated booking, Google Analytics tracking, and an AI trip assistant named "navi." Revenue is generated through custom-built tour projects licensed to enterprise clients in the travel, leisure, hospitality, and real estate sectors.
Is SKYNAV a public or private company?
SKYNAV is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was SKYNAV founded?
SKYNAV was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is SKYNAV based?
SKYNAV is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does SKYNAV make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Virtual Tour Licensing / One-Time Sale is the primary driver. The others are platform Features & Add-Ons and payment Program / Financing.
Who are SKYNAV's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pano2VR, CloudPano, Matterport, Kuula, VPix360, Lapentor, EyeSpy360 and Threshold 360. Emerging players are Mindtrip and iStaging.
Does SKYNAV have an API?
No public API is recorded for SKYNAV.
What industry is SKYNAV in?
SKYNAV's product category is Immersive Virtual Tour Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAIAC, Lodging & Vacation Rental Booking Platforms, with a secondary code of THAKAFAL, Island, Beach & Resort Travel Agencies. Its NAICS code is 516210 and its SIC code is 7900.