When was Polarsteps founded?

Polarsteps was founded in 2014 and raised its 1st funding round within a year of its incorporation.

Where is Polarsteps located?

Polarsteps is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

How many employees does Polarsteps have?

As of Jul 31, 2026, the latest employee count at Polarsteps is 117.

Is Polarsteps a funded company?

Polarsteps is a funded company, having raised a total of $5.05M across 4 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a $***** Seed round, raised on Nov 11, 2014.

When was the latest funding round of Polarsteps?

Polarsteps' latest funding was a $***** Series A round on Jan 16, 2019, with participation from 1 investor.

Where does Polarsteps rank among its competitors?

Polarsteps ranks 2nd amongst 1053 active competitors, of which 73 are funded. It stands 6th in terms of total funding among its competitors. The most recent competitor to raise funding was Explurger, which secured $978K in Sep, 2025.

Who are the top competitors of Polarsteps?

Polarsteps' top competitors include Explurger, Mindtrip and Atlas Obscura. Among them, Explurger secured the most recent funding round in September, 2025.

Polarsteps - 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors

Polarsteps is a series A company based in Amsterdam (Netherlands), founded in 2014 by Job Harmsen and Koen Droste. It operates as a Mobile app to create and share travelogues. Polarsteps has raised $5.05M in funding from investors like TMG, tmgstartups.nl and Silver Point Ventures. The company has 1053 active competitors, including 73 funded and 22 that have exited. Its top competitors include companies like Explurger, Mindtrip and Atlas Obscura.

Company Details

Polarsteps is an app-based travel log platform that uses the phone's GPS to automatically track travels & create location-based logs over a map-based GUI. Users can also upload media to the logs and share them with peers/on various social media handles. Additionally, users can maintain a collection of routes, stories, travel statistics & photos in a 'Personal Travel Book' and can further have the hard copies (with 200 GSM paper & hardcovers) shipped to them at additional charges. Its mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices.

Website: www.polarsteps.com/
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Key Metrics

Founded Year

2014

Location

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$5.05M in 4 rounds

Latest Funding Round

Series A, Jan 16, 2019, $*****

Investors

TMG & 13 more

Ranked

2^nd among 1053 active competitors

Employee Count

117 as on Jul 31, 2026

Similar Companies

Explurger & 1211 more

View Polarsteps' full profile

Polarsteps has raised a total funding of $5.05M over 4 rounds. Its first funding round was on Nov 11, 2014. Its latest funding round was a Series A round on Jan 16, 2019 for $*****. 1 investor participated in its latest round. Polarsteps has 5 institutional investors and 9 angel investors.

Here is the list of recent funding rounds of Polarsteps:

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Date of Funding	Funding Amount	Round Name	Post-Money Valuation	Revenue Multiple	Lead Investors	Other Investors
Jan 16, 2019	1084365	Series A	8374903	3143494	5411954	7824334
Aug 02, 2017	1386273	Angel	9340405	4903893	6747856	3877438
Mar 17, 2016	9838658	Seed	9953741	1852524	Silver Point Ventures & 1 more	6804811

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View details of Polarsteps's funding rounds and investors

The founders of Polarsteps are Job Harmsen and Koen Droste.

Here are the details of Polarsteps' key team members:

Job Harmsen: Co-founder of Polarsteps.
Contact Info: 1 email address
Koen Droste: Co-Founder & CEO of Polarsteps.
Contact Info: 1 email address

View details of Polarsteps's Founder profiles and Board Members

Polarsteps' employee count trend

Polarsteps has 117 employees as of Jul 26. Here is Polarsteps's employee count trend over the years:

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Top competitors of Polarsteps include Explurger, Mindtrip and Atlas Obscura. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of Polarsteps, ranked by Tracxn score:

Rank	Company Details	Short Description	Total Funding	Investors	Tracxn Score
1st	Explurger 2018, Delhi (India), Series A	Platform for travelers to share experiences and connect with others	$10.2M	35North Ventures, LetsVenture & 38 others	65/100
2nd	Polarsteps 2014, Amsterdam (Netherlands), Series A	Mobile app to create and share travelogues	$5.05M	Curiosity, Inkef & 12 others	61/100
3rd	Mindtrip 2023, Palo Alto (United States), Series A	AI-powered platform for booking trips	$19M	Costanoa, Forerunner Ventures	60/100
4th	Atlas Obscura 2009, New York City (United States), Series B	User generated content site for unconventional places	$37.9M	The New York Times, NAV.VC & 15 others	57/100
5th	ViaMichelin 2000, Boulogne billancourt (France), Unfunded	Online platform for trip planning	-	-	57/100
6th	Travel Buddy 2016, Gurugram (India), Seed	App-based platform for sharing & discovering travel stories	$603K	Marigold Capital, Eaglewings Ventures & 68 others	55/100
7th	Atly 2019, Tel Aviv (Israel), Series B	Platform that helps users find and share their favorite places, including restaurants, hiking trails, and more, through groups of people who share their interests	$18M	Tal Ventures, Target Global & 1 others	51/100
8th	minube 2006, Alcorcon (Spain), Series A	Online travel guide & trip planning platform	$4.38M	Kibo Ventures, Intelectium & 8 others	50/100
9th	Thatch 2018, San Francisco (United States), Seed	Provider of an AI-powered platform for personalized travel planning services	$5.2M	Wave Capital, Freestyle & 2 others	50/100
10th	Wanderlog 2008, San Francisco (United States), Seed	App-based platform for trip planning	$150K	Y Combinator	49/100