RIP Remote Year: Shutting down after nearly 10 years
Remote Year, one of the first companies to offer work-and-travel programs for digital nomads, has officially shut down after almost ten years in business.
Founded in 2014 by Greg Caplan and Sam Pessin, Remote Year quickly gained a following for its programs, which bundled travel, accommodations, co-working spaces, and curated activities across destinations worldwide.
Remote Year was acquired by Collective Hospitality in 2022 as part of a larger deal that included Selina, a hospitality brand focused on digital nomads. Earlier this year, Selina fell into administration, struggling with major financial and operational challenges in what some described as a "fire sale".
However, as reported by Skift, Gary Murray, CEO of Collective Hospitality, stated that his company "never took the shares of this business as it was simply too toxic" and that Remote Year "is still owned by Selina PLC, the company that went into liquidation".
The situation appears more complex than initially reported. Still according to Skift, Tue Le, Remote Year's CEO of two years, stated that, after Collective Hospitality did indeed acquire Remote Year, it "quickly became evident that they had no interest in supporting Remote Year's operations". Le revealed that during the four months following the acquisition, the company received no funding, payroll, or operational support from Collective Hospitality.
The sudden closure left over 1,000 participants scrambling. Many had already paid for upcoming trips, only to find their plans—and in some cases, their investments—vanish overnight. Several vendors also reported several thousands of euros of services provided to Remote Year that they will never receive.
The digital nomad community also reacted to the news.
Following the news, the CEO at NomadX, Gonçalo Hall promptly commented on his social media:
"Remote Year got some things wrong imo. The 1st one was that they accepted VC capital to grow, which added an immense pressure for growth at all costs. The 2nd is that during the pandemic they were acquired by Selina and now they went down with Selina, being blocked by the new ownership. Pieter Levels and other people were interested in buying the brand but sadly it was not possible by the new ownership of Selina and RY. It will always be in the history books as one of the companies that helped grow and expand digital nomadism, it will be missed in the community".
Many echoed similar sentiments, highlighting Remote Year's role in shaping the lifestyle and providing inspiration for remote workers worldwide, but were sad to see the company's inability to adapt to the new environment after the acquisition.
Remote Year’s shutdown also raises bigger questions about whether remote work travel programs can survive, considering that it's not the only company of its kind to close its doors recently. This, in fact, follows the closure of the startup We Roam, which failed in 2018 after increasing financial pressure and controversies.
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