On Tunisia’s southern trails and coastal villages, a new traveltech player is quietly redesigning how visitors experience the region.
WildyNess, a Tunis-based B2C/B2B2C traveltech startup, has closed an undisclosed pre-seed round co-led by Bridging Angels and the African Diaspora Network (ADN).
Founded in 2021 by engineers Achraf Aouadi and Rym Bourguiba, WildyNess connects “conscious travellers” with authentic local experiences co-created with tourism micro-entrepreneurs — the guides, homestay hosts, and community operators who rarely make it onto traditional booking platforms.
While the round size remains undisclosed, the investor mix and stated use of proceeds signal a clear ambition: turn WildyNess into a regional champion for community-based, sustainable tourism across North Africa and the Gulf.
What WildyNess Actually Does
At its core, WildyNess is a travel marketplace that:
- Curates local experiences — from desert treks and mountain oases to food tours and cultural immersions.
- Co-designs these experiences with micro-entrepreneurs in tourism, helping them define pricing, packaging, and standards.
- Operates both direct-to-consumer (B2C) and B2B2C, integrating with partners such as tour operators, agencies, and platforms that want access to vetted, community-based experiences.
The proposition is straightforward: instead of a generic package that shuttles tourists between hotels and landmarks, WildyNess offers immersive itineraries that generate measurable income for local hosts — particularly those outside traditional tourism corridors.
The Funding: Capital + a Bridge to the Diaspora
The pre-seed round was co-led by Bridging Angels, a France-based angel collective, and the African Diaspora Network, a California-based network mobilising diaspora capital and expertise.
Beyond capital, the two bring:
- Market access to European and US-based diaspora communities already inclined to explore the region.
- Strategic mentoring on go-to-market, cross-border partnerships, and impact measurement in community tourism.
WildyNess positions this as more than a funding line — it’s a strategic bridge to international markets as the team works to export what they call a “Tunisian success story” across MENA.
Where the Money Is Going: From Tunisia to MENA
The new capital is earmarked for two main priorities:
- Regional Expansion
WildyNess is preparing to move beyond Tunisia into:- Algeria
- Saudi Arabia
- Oman
- United Arab Emirates
- Technology & Infrastructure
The round will also fund:- Upgrades to the core platform (discovery, booking, and payments)
- Better tooling for experience creators (inventory, pricing, and content management)
- Data capabilities to measure impact on local micro-businesses
Strengthening the digital infrastructure is a key condition for scaling responsibly while maintaining quality and safety across very different markets and experiences.
Why This Matters for MENA’s Traveltech Story
For years, fintech and logistics have dominated regional funding headlines. Traveltech — especially outside mass tourism — has been underrepresented. WildyNess sits at the intersection of several under-served themes:
- Community-based and sustainable tourism rather than volume-driven mass tourism
- Micro-entrepreneur enablement, not just marketplace aggregation
- North Africa as a starting point, rather than defaulting to GCC-first expansion
In North Africa, where many rural and peri-urban communities rely on seasonal tourism, digital platforms like WildyNess can become a distribution layer for local talent — storytellers, guides, artisans, and hosts who are rarely visible on global online travel agencies.
Investor participation from both Europe and the US-based African diaspora also reflects a growing external appetite for impact-oriented tourism in the region.
The Founders: Engineers Building for the Field, Not Just the Feed
Co-founders Achraf Aouadi and Rym Bourguiba both come from engineering backgrounds, which shows up in the platform’s product-first approach.
But their differentiation isn’t purely technical. WildyNess’ model is built around:
- On-the-ground scouting to identify potential micro-entrepreneurs
- Co-creation of experiences, rather than simply listing existing tours
- Training and standardisation, helping small operators meet global expectations on safety, quality, and digital communications
That mix of engineering discipline and community work is what early backers highlight as the startup’s edge. Investors have praised the team’s discipline and constant care for their customers — a signal that execution, not just narrative, played a role in getting this round done.
Beyond Bookings: Measuring Impact on Micro-Entrepreneurs
WildyNess’ real test won’t be just user growth or GMV — it will be whether the model moves the needle for micro-entrepreneurs in tourism by:
- Increasing average revenue per local operator
- Extending the tourism season beyond a narrow peak window
- Diversifying income streams in communities dependent on a single attraction or route
If executed well, WildyNess could evolve from a niche marketplace into an infrastructure layer for community tourism in North Africa and the Gulf — one that investors, governments, and development organisations can plug into for more targeted, measurable interventions.
What to Watch Next
As WildyNess deploys its pre-seed capital, a few questions will define the next phase:
- Can the startup standardise quality across very different markets, from Algerian mountain villages to Saudi or Omani desert experiences?
- Will B2B2C partnerships with regional travel agencies and platforms unlock meaningful distribution — or will growth remain B2C-led?
- How quickly can WildyNess build trust on both sides: travellers seeking safe, authentic experiences and local hosts wary of digital platforms?
For now, this pre-seed round marks an important signal: North African traveltech is no longer an afterthought. It’s becoming a serious thesis for investors betting on sustainable, community-first tourism models across MENA.
Editor’s Note — From the Startups MENA Team
At Startups MENA, we track the founders who turn overlooked sectors into investable, scalable stories. WildyNess sits firmly in that category.
Community-based tourism has long existed in Tunisia, Algeria, and across the wider region — but mostly offline, fragmented, and vulnerable to shocks. By digitising these experiences and channelling capital, mentorship, and diaspora networks toward micro-entrepreneurs, WildyNess is helping convert informal passion into formal opportunity.
This pre-seed round is about more than one startup’s runway. It reflects a broader shift in how MENA builds its innovation economy: from serving global tourism flows with generic products, to shaping travel on our own terms — rooted in local communities, cultural authenticity, and long-term economic resilience.
As North Africa and the Gulf double down on diversification and visitor economies, platforms like WildyNess will test a critical hypothesis: that the most sustainable growth comes not from mega-projects alone, but from thousands of small entrepreneurs whose stories — and livelihoods — finally get a digital stage.
— The Startups MENA Editorial Team
