Campertunity

In July 2016, Nora Lozano was camping with friends in Pemberton, BC when a simple question sparked an idea: "Who owns this property?" That same summer, another camping trip to a provincial park revealed the pain point—cramped spaces, neighbors just feet away, and the annual chaos of booking campsites in advance. Nora, an engineer with a master's degree in occupational hygiene and a lifelong love of nature, recognized a gap: the shared economy had disrupted hotels, cars, and homes, but camping remained untouched. She decided to fix that.

Nora and her co-founder (who had a tourism and customer service background) faced an immediate challenge: neither could code. They outsourced development, which became their biggest early mistake. Their first developer—a friend—took thousands of dollars and delivered nothing. Rather than quit, they pushed forward, carefully vetting a second development team. Bread and Butter Inc., based in Victoria, BC, took on the complex project and delivered. The build took 2 years total. Campertunity was bootstrapped entirely—no investors, no crowdfunding, just Nora's own capital.

Before launch, Nora began pitching the idea to media. The strategy worked spectacularly: by launch day, she'd generated enough media attention that 250 people had already signed up on the landing page. However, launch day itself was a reality check. When the website went live, only 3 people listed their land. Nora sat in her small Vancouver condo, watching the initial momentum evaporate as camping season ended. The site remained "almost stagnant for another 6 months."

Nora's breakthrough came from a low-cost tactic: posting about Campertunity in Facebook camping group pages. This grassroots effort caught the attention of journalists, triggering a cascade of media appearances on TV, radio, podcasts, and in newspapers. "Our media attention is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars," she noted, "and with every article or broadcast about us, we gather a few dozen new users and listings." By the first anniversary, Campertunity had 400+ users and 50 listings across Canada.

Her biggest mistake was scaling nationally too quickly. She now wishes she'd focused on British Columbia first, proven the model, then expanded—instead of marketing "the second largest country in the world" from day one.

Campertunity uses a 10% commission model on bookings with no signup fees. The platform's tagline to landowners: "We don't make money unless you make money." By May 2019, the company had secured its first bookings and was growing daily. Nora's 5-year goal was $100,000 ARR. The biggest obstacle ahead was insurance—$50,000 per year to cover liability—and Canada's cautious regulatory environment around shared economy businesses. Despite early revenue of $36.87 in the first month, Nora remained optimistic, powered by her engineering background, environmental mission, and unwavering belief in the business.