The Aarhus-based startup Understory has raised €12 million to accelerate its growth in the global experience market, which McKinsey & Company estimates is worth more than $3 trillion, growing around six percent each year.

“We are incredibly proud. This is an important recognition of the work we have put in over the past few years and of the vision we are pursuing. The investment gives us the opportunity to take Understory to the next level. Let there be no doubt: our ambition is to revolutionize the experience industry,” says Lasse Kjær, CEO and Co-Founder.

Understory’s vision is to make it easier for people to create and share meaningful experiences. At a time when younger generations are spending more time and money on experiences yet nearly 50 percent of all commerce, according to McKinsey & Company, still happens offline, the industry faces a paradox: Guests expect to discover, decide, and book in the same moment, while providers are stuck with outdated systems. Understory aims to change that with an AI-driven platform that combines booking, payment, and marketing in one system. The platform equips experience providers with the necessary tools and automates workflows so they can realize their full growth potential.

“With this investment, we can further develop our product and infrastructure while also expanding Understory internationally. By entering new markets, even more experience providers will gain access to our tools so they can attract more guests, open new revenue streams, and focus on what matters most: delivering unforgettable experiences,” says Lasse Kjær.

The funding round is a Series A investment led by London-based Smedvig Ventures, a high conviction investor backing the best of B2B tech across Europe.

“Understory stands out with a stellar team, a clear vision, and a product that is only at the beginning of its journey to enable experience providers globally. We look forward to supporting the company’s journey and seeing how it creates even more value for both businesses and their guests,” says Jonathan Lerner, Partner at Smedvig Ventures.

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This is not the first time Lasse Kjær, together with his co-founder Lars Rasmussen, has built a fast-growing company. Previously, they founded Truestory, which has since become the largest experience portal in the Nordics.

While still running Truestory, they came up with the idea for Understory after seeing how providers were left on their own to manage administration, marketing, and finances with minimal support. They also recognized that digitalization in the industry was lagging.

It is a clear challenge in the industry – one Understory intends to solve. Today, the company already serves customers in ten countries. The investment milestone comes at a time when, according to Statista, more than half of the U.S. workforce will be freelancing by 2027. The trend reflects a growing desire to leave traditional employment in order to build independent businesses.

In addition to Smedvig Ventures, the new investors include People Ventures and Sequel. Existing investors Seed Capital and Firstminute Capital have also reinvested after closely following the company’s progress over the past 18 months.

“It is inspiring to see how quickly Understory has grown into a change-making company. The experience market is massive, but it is the people behind it who make the difference. We are backing a company that provides hosts with the right tools to succeed – and that is exactly the kind of impact we want to support,” says Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack, Founder and General Partner at Seed Capital.

Beyond its core product, Understory has launched initiatives such as Female Founders Lab, an academy for women who want to create or grow their experience-based businesses with support and mentoring along the way. The company currently employs 44 people across its two offices in Denmark’s largest cities, Aarhus and Copenhagen, and it has been recognized by Notion Capital and Google Cloud as one of Europe’s 100 most promising software startups in 2025.