See the 14-page pitch deck Jukin Media vets used to raise $4 million to disrupt travel media

Brothers Jonathan and Mike Skogmo, and Anton Reut, built Jukin Media before it was sold in 2021 to Trusted Media Brands, parent of Reader’s Digest.

Jonathan Skogmo, who will serve as CEO of Lost iN, said after selling Jukin and advising others, he realized he wanted to build a new company. He thought travel media had become fragmented, with traditional, ad-driven publishers like Condé Nast Traveler aimed at the high-end and niche publications focused on areas like camping, leaving a big market underserved.

“There’s a middle market of working professionals who are being ignored,” he said. “There’s more opportunity here.”

Skogmo acknowledged that his idea to start a media company raised some eyebrows. He flew to Croatia to pitch his brother on the idea, joking, “I had to meet him halfway around the world to convince my brother who lives down the street from me.” Mike Skogmo, who was on a multi-country trip, knew firsthand how hard it is to find information when planning travel.

Lost iN acquired a city guidebook publisher by the same name and plans to build other products and services around it by partnering with creators and doing M&A. It’s working with Rob Levy of Digital Media Capital Advisors to acquire other travel-related companies in areas like consumer products and media. In this way, Skogmo said he hopes to grow Lost iN to a $500 million enterprise value in five years.

It’s been a punishing time for media companies, with tough competition for ad revenue, subscriptions hard to come by, and digital platforms shrinking as a distribution channel. Skogmo said he was inspired by media companies like Epic Gardening and Betches that have built fandoms and make money in various ways.

Check out Lost iN’s 14-page pitch deck for more details on how it plans to scale.