Untapped Cities
Untapped Cities is a NYC-focused media and tour operator that publishes editorial content about the city's hidden history and architecture and sells guided walking tours plus a tiered monthly membership bundling tour credits and virtual event access.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Untapped Cities does
Untapped Cities (legally operating as Untapped New York) is a New York City-based media and experiential tourism company founded by Michelle Young. The company publishes a content platform at untappedcities.com covering NYC history, architecture, abandoned places, transit, food, and cultural institutions, with an editorial archive of approximately 2,500 articles accumulated since founding. Core products include a portfolio of in-person guided walking tours (Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, Woolworth Building, Ellis Island Hospital hard-hat tours, and themed architecture/history routes) operated through untappednewyorktours.com on FareHarbor's booking infrastructure, plus a virtual events program delivered via Zoom with a 300+ recording on-demand archive.
Untapped Cities firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Untapped Cities
- Legal name
- Untapped New York
- Website
- https://untappedcities.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- Untapped Cities is a NYC-focused media and tour operator that publishes editorial content about the city's hidden history and architecture and sells guided walking tours plus a tiered monthly membership bundling tour credits and virtual event access.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Untapped Cities industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cultural Tourism and Urban Exploration
- NAICS
- Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land (487110), Periodical Publishers (51312), Historical Sites (712120)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Walking City Tours (Highlights & Orientation) (THAJAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Travel & Outdoors Magazines (MPAJAEAH), Architecture & Urban Design Tours (THAJAAAD)
Keywords
Where Untapped Cities is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Untapped Cities business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Membership Subscriptions: Monthly and annual membership tiers (Insider, Explorer, Superfan) providing access to exclusive content, free/discounted tour tickets, virtual events, and ad-free experience.
- Tour Ticket Sales: Direct ticket sales for walking tours of NYC landmarks including Penn Station, Grand Central, Woolworth Building, Ellis Island, and others. Members receive discounts or free access.
- Advertising: The website displays advertisements, with an option for users to 'Go ad free' by subscribing to the membership program.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Insider membership at $20/month |
| Subscription | Monthly | Explorer membership at $30/month |
| Subscription | Monthly | Superfan membership at $100/month |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Untapped Cities product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Untapped Cities publishes editorial content about New York City's hidden gems, architecture, and history via its website, podcasts, and videos, while operating a portfolio of expert-led walking tours and virtual events that provide members and ticket-buyers with behind-the-scenes access to normally off-limits NYC landmarks. The company monetizes these offerings through paid tour tickets, an Insiders subscription membership, and website advertising.
Product overview
Untapped Cities operates a multi-platform content and experience business centered on NYC urban exploration. The core offering includes the Untapped New York website with articles and guides, paired with a portfolio of walking tours (Secret of Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, Woolworth Building tours) and virtual events via Zoom. The company also produces podcasts (The Untapped New York Podcast, Take the 5) and video content, all distributed through its digital platform. The Insiders membership program provides free/discounted access to tours and exclusive content, while a Square-powered shop sells branded merchandise.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Untapped New York Website Primary digital platform delivering articles, guides, and editorial content about NYC's secrets, hidden gems, architecture, history, food, transit, abandoned places, and cultural attractions for tourists and residents.
- Walking Tours In-person guided walking tours of NYC landmarks and hidden places including Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, Woolworth Building, abandoned Ellis Island Hospital complex, and other themed tours covering architecture, history, and culture. Members receive free or discounted access; non-members can purchase full-price tickets.
- Virtual Events Online webinars, book talks, and virtual presentations delivered via Zoom featuring authors, historians, and experts on NYC topics, with over 300 past events archived for member access.
- Podcast The Untapped New York Podcast and Take the 5 short-form series covering NYC history, culture, and urban exploration topics, with an archive of past episodes available.
- Video Content Video articles and documentary-style content covering NYC secrets, behind-the-scenes tours, and urban exploration subjects, including an archive of virtual event recordings.
- Insiders Membership Program Recurring subscription membership program with three tiers (Insider, Explorer, Superfan) offering free or discounted walking tour tickets, exclusive member events, access to 250+ archived virtual event recordings, free newsletters, and an ad-free browsing experience.
- Shop Branded merchandise store selling Untapped New York apparel and goods, operated via Square.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 300 on-demand virtual events available in archive
Companies that use Untapped Cities
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Untapped Cities technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
Untapped Cities partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Woolworth BuildingcoreUntapped Cities offers exclusive authorized tours of the Woolworth Building, one of NYC's most famous landmarks with limited public access. The company has special arrangements for VIP access to the cathedral-like lobby and subterranean vault areas.
- Save Ellis IslandcorePartnership with Save Ellis Island to offer hard hat tours of the abandoned Ellis Island Hospital complex, normally off-limits to the public, guided by organization docents.
- Hoboken Historical Museum and Hoboken Business AllianceminorCollaboration to create exclusive tours of Hoboken's historic sites, offering members-only access developed with local historical expertise.
- NYC Parks and Prospect Park AllianceminorPartnership with NYC Parks for exclusive access tours of landmarks like the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in Brooklyn during restoration periods.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Untapped Cities competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Atlas Obscura: Atlas Obscura is the closest direct competitor — it operates the same media-plus-experiences model combining an editorial platform about hidden places worldwide with a marketplace of curated tours and experiences. Its global scope is broader, but the underlying business model (free content funnel driving paid experiences) is nearly identical to Untapped Cities.
- Walks: Walks (also branded as Walks of Italy / Walks of New York) is a small-group walking tour operator specializing in premium guided tours of major cities including New York. It competes head-to-head with Untapped Cities in the architecture-and-history walking tour category, with similar pricing and small-group formats.
- Context Travel: Context Travel offers expert-led, small-group walking tours focused on history, architecture, and culture across major cities including New York. It targets a similar cultural-tourism and history-buff customer segment with docent-led experiences analogous to Untapped Cities' behind-the-scenes tours.
- On Location Tours: On Location Tours is a New York-based walking tour company specializing in film and TV location tours. It competes directly with Untapped Cities in NYC for tourists seeking themed, themed-experience walking tours and overlaps on the architecture and behind-the-scenes categories.
- Free Tours by Foot: Free Tours by Foot operates tip-based walking tours in NYC and other major cities, covering history, architecture, and food. It competes on price with Untapped Cities' tour offerings and shares the same walk-up tourist customer base in NYC.
- Strayboots: Strayboots offers self-guided scavenger hunts and interactive walking experiences in NYC and other cities. It targets the same corporate and tourist segments seeking activity-based urban exploration, partially overlapping with Untapped Cities' experiential tour offerings.
Broad incumbents
- Airbnb Experiences: Airbnb Experiences is a broad marketplace for bookable tours and activities worldwide, including NYC walking tours. While not specialized in hidden-gems content, it provides distribution scale and consumer demand that Untapped Cities cannot match and competes for the same discretionary tourist spend.
- Viator: Viator (owned by Tripadvisor) is a global online marketplace for tours, attractions, and experiences, including NYC walking tours. It competes for the same traveler customers as Untapped Cities' tour business and has the advantage of Tripadvisor's distribution — the same platform that awarded Untapped Cities its Best of the Best recognition.
- GetYourGuide: GetYourGuide is a leading global tour and activity booking platform with significant NYC inventory. It competes for tour bookings with Untapped Cities via aggregated supply and benefits from substantial marketing and category-building spend.
- Smithsonian Magazine (Travel & Culture vertical): Smithsonian Magazine publishes cultural, historical, and travel content with a substantially larger audience than Untapped Cities. While not a tour operator, it occupies the adjacent editorial space of history-and-culture content and represents the kind of scaled publishing competitor Untapped Cities could grow toward.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Untapped Cities social profiles
Digital presenceUntapped Cities financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Untapped Cities leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Untapped Cities funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Untapped Cities 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 Untapped Cities
What does Untapped Cities do?
Untapped Cities publishes editorial content about New York City's hidden gems, architecture, and history via its website, podcasts, and videos, while operating a portfolio of expert-led walking tours and virtual events that provide members and ticket-buyers with behind-the-scenes access to normally off-limits NYC landmarks. The company monetizes these offerings through paid tour tickets, an Insiders subscription membership, and website advertising.
Is Untapped Cities a public or private company?
Untapped Cities is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Untapped Cities founded?
Untapped Cities was founded in 2013. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Untapped Cities based?
Untapped Cities is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Untapped Cities make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Membership Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are tour Ticket Sales and advertising.
Who are Untapped Cities's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Atlas Obscura, Walks, Context Travel, On Location Tours, Free Tours by Foot and Strayboots. Broad incumbents are Airbnb Experiences, Viator, GetYourGuide and Smithsonian Magazine (Travel & Culture vertical).
Does Untapped Cities have an API?
No public API is recorded for Untapped Cities.
What industry is Untapped Cities in?
Untapped Cities's product category is Cultural Tourism and Urban Exploration. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJAAAA, Walking City Tours (Highlights & Orientation), with a secondary code of MPAJAEAH, Travel & Outdoors Magazines. Its NAICS code is 487110 and its SIC code is 7990.