From Banking Burnout to Mountain Peaks: How Preeti Suri’s AdventureTripr is Democratizing Outdoor Excursions

For Preeti Suri, summiting Mount Rainier marked more than just a personal achievement – it represented her complete metamorphosis from an exhausted investment banker to a purposeful entrepreneur. As co-founder and CEO of Bellevue, Washington-based AdventureTripr, Suri has created a travel marketplace that harnesses technology and artificial intelligence to connect adventure seekers with multi-day outdoor excursions around the world. The timing couldn’t have been more challenging – launching just one month before the 2020 pandemic lockdowns began. Yet against all odds, AdventureTripr has flourished into a profitable platform offering 500 trips across 50 countries, operating with a lean team and a technology-first approach to curating meaningful outdoor experiences.

What makes AdventureTripr particularly special is its focus on dismantling both economic and socio-cultural barriers that traditionally keep people of color and first-time hikers away from iconic global trails and peaks. Suri’s journey to founding the company began with her own personal crisis. As a former CPA and investment banker in London, she reached a breaking point with the corporate world, realizing, “This is not what I want to do the rest of my life. I’m just making rich people richer. It’s not fulfilling.” Her move to Seattle as a new mother brought additional challenges – postpartum depression and diminished physical strength. Seeking relief, Suri began hiking Washington’s trails with her baby on her back, a practice that evolved into climbing every major volcano in the state. This outdoor immersion proved “absolutely transformational” for her mental health, sparking the mission to create similar opportunities for others who might face barriers to outdoor adventure.

Suri identified a significant gap in the adventure travel market. While established U.S. operators like Backroads and REI offered multi-day trips with price tags reaching $7,000 per person, she recognized that working directly with local guides could substantially reduce costs. Moreover, she understood a cultural nuance that many industry leaders missed – that many South Asian travelers weren’t disinterested in outdoor adventures but rather felt intimidated by them. “A lot of the U.S. companies assumed a lot of the people of color either didn’t know how to do this stuff or didn’t want to do this stuff, whereas my insight was it was a lot of aspiration,” Suri explains. “They need a bit more hand-holding.” This insight proved accurate – approximately 40% of AdventureTripr’s business still comes from high-net-worth South Asian customers who appreciate the company’s personalized training plans and detailed gear guidance.

The technological foundation of AdventureTripr has been instrumental in its rapid scaling, distinguishing it from legacy adventure companies. Working alongside co-founder Marat Khabibullin, a veteran software engineer from Microsoft, Suri implemented AI solutions into the company’s operations long before artificial intelligence became an industry buzzword. The efficiency gains have been remarkable – “It takes us 15 minutes to upload a new trip because we have AI tools built for that and to create our content,” Suri notes. The company continues to develop AI agents for handling routine inquiries about gear recommendations or local customs like tipping. However, Suri maintains a healthy skepticism about the current trend of “AI travel planners” flooding the market. She firmly believes in the irreplaceable value of human expertise: “Curation and customization is where the expert knowledge comes into play. There is so much significance to the human element of human connection.”

AdventureTripr operates with remarkable efficiency, employing approximately 20 full-time and freelance staff. The company generates its revenue directly from bookings and secured about $500,000 in pre-seed funding back in 2021, primarily from advisors and satisfied clients. This lean approach to business has allowed them to remain nimble while expanding their global footprint. When reflecting on her former banking career, Suri acknowledges that she works just as hard now as she did then, but with a crucial difference – the constant threat of burnout has disappeared. Instead, she finds profound fulfillment in witnessing clients from all walks of life – cancer survivors, groups of Indian mothers in their 40s, first-time hikers – conquering challenges like the Machu Picchu trek or completing the Tour du Mont Blanc circuit in Europe.

What began as a personal journey of healing has blossomed into a mission-driven business that transforms lives through outdoor adventure. The financial rewards of entrepreneurship have been complemented by something far more valuable for Suri – purpose and impact. “It doesn’t feel like work anymore,” she reflects with evident satisfaction. “It is changing lifestyles, changing people’s lives. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Through AdventureTripr, Suri has not only found her own path to fulfillment but has created accessible routes for others to discover the transformative power of outdoor adventure – proving that with the right guidance, support, and technology, the world’s most magnificent trails and peaks can be experienced by a far more diverse community of adventurers than ever before.