HLRBO Raises $2.5M to Bring Hunting Land Leasing Into the Software Era

Minneapolis-based HLRBO, a company operating at the intersection of outdoor recreation technology, marketplace software, and land-access infrastructure, has raised $2.5M in new funding led by Mairs & Power Venture Capital, bringing total funding to approximately $4.1M. The company connects hunters seeking private land access with landowners looking to monetize acreage across the United States and Canada.

Founded by Heath Schubert, Founder & CEO, HLRBO has grown to more than 225,000 users, 14,000 paying subscribers, and over 1.7M acres listed on its platform. Previous funding included capital from Great North Ventures, helping the company expand its marketplace and technology stack.

The new capital will support product development, including parcel-level mapping, AI-powered land scoring, trail-camera intelligence, and cinematic 3D property visualization. LandKey™, HLRBO's proprietary transaction platform, combines contracts, payments, and insurance into a single workflow.

The bigger story is not hunting. The bigger story is what happens when software enters a market that spent decades operating through phone calls, handshakes, local knowledge, and fragmented relationships.

What Happened

HLRBO announced a $2.5M funding round led by Mairs & Power Venture Capital, marking another step in the company's effort to modernize private hunting land access. The investment follows earlier raises of approximately $1M in February 2024 and $600K in August 2024, bringing total capital raised to roughly $4.1M. The company operates a marketplace that allows landowners to list hunting properties while enabling hunters to discover, lease, and pay for access through a centralized platform.

At first glance, this sounds simple. In practice, it addresses a surprisingly stubborn market inefficiency. Private hunting access has historically functioned through personal networks, local relationships, informal agreements, and regional brokers. Access often depended less on demand and more on who knew whom. That creates friction. Friction creates inefficiency. Inefficiency creates opportunity. That opportunity became HLRBO.

Why This Matters

Many startup founders chase markets that look exciting on conference stages. The more interesting businesses often emerge from markets nobody is talking about. HLRBO sits inside a category that combines outdoor recreation technology, marketplace economics, digital payments, insurance workflows, mapping technology, and increasingly, artificial intelligence. Yet it rarely receives the attention given to sectors like fintech, cybersecurity, or enterprise software.

Investors notice a different signal. The platform now serves more than 225,000 users and 14,000 paying subscribers while managing access to over 1.7M acres across all 50 states and Canada. Those numbers suggest something important: this is no longer a niche website solving a hobbyist problem. It is becoming infrastructure for a specialized market. Infrastructure businesses tend to become valuable because people stop thinking about them. They become part of how transactions happen, and that is where marketplace businesses become difficult to displace.

Market Context

The hunting industry rarely appears in venture capital headlines, yet hunting and outdoor recreation represent a multi-billion-dollar economic sector across North America. Historically, access has been one of the market's biggest constraints. Public land remains important, but private land access often determines where hunters spend their time and money. Meanwhile, many landowners possess underutilized acreage that can generate income if managed properly.

HLRBO's model creates a digital bridge between those two groups. This dynamic mirrors patterns seen across marketplace businesses. Airbnb organized underutilized housing inventory. Turo organized underutilized vehicles. HLRBO is organizing underutilized hunting land. Different market. Same economic principle. The underlying value comes from matching supply and demand more efficiently than traditional methods.

Competitive Landscape

HLRBO's differentiation is not simply that it lists properties. Listing properties is the easy part. The company's more significant move is building transaction infrastructure around those listings. Its proprietary LandKey™ platform combines contracts, payments, and insurance into a single workflow. That matters because marketplaces rarely win through discovery alone. They win by reducing friction across the entire transaction.

The less time users spend managing paperwork, coordinating payments, and handling administrative tasks, the more likely they are to remain active participants in the ecosystem. HLRBO has also expanded beyond basic marketplace functionality through partnerships such as SPYPOINT, integrating trail-camera intelligence and property insights into the platform. The company is effectively moving from marketplace to operating system. That is a much bigger ambition.

What This Signals

The leadership team appears focused on turning HLRBO into a technology platform rather than simply a property directory. Founder & CEO Heath Schubert continues to lead the company's strategic direction, while team members Eric Mueller, Head of Marketing & Partnerships, Brian Salzer, Landowner Partnerships, Steve Pattison, Sales and Marketing Specialist, and Stephen Regenold, HLRBO Field Rep, contribute to marketplace growth, landowner acquisition, and community expansion.

The latest funding will support parcel-level mapping, AI-powered land scoring, trail-camera intelligence, and cinematic 3D visualization capabilities. That roadmap reflects a broader trend visible across multiple industries. Software is no longer limited to digitizing transactions. Software is increasingly helping users make decisions. The distinction matters because a platform that helps users evaluate land quality, analyze wildlife activity, and understand property potential creates value before a transaction occurs. That expands the role of the platform inside the customer journey.

The Bigger Industry Shift

The most revealing aspect of HLRBO's funding round may have nothing to do with hunting. It reflects a broader venture trend toward vertical software platforms. For years, investors poured capital into horizontal solutions designed to serve everyone. Increasingly, capital is flowing toward companies that deeply understand a specific market and build technology tailored to its unique needs.

These businesses often look smaller from the outside. From the inside, they can become extraordinarily durable. HLRBO is not trying to serve every consumer. It is focused on solving a specific problem for a defined audience. The company understands the workflows, economics, and relationships that drive private hunting access. That level of specialization is becoming a competitive advantage across technology markets. Investors are not simply funding software anymore. They are funding domain expertise wrapped in software. HLRBO's latest round suggests they see both.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HLRBO?

HLRBO, short for Hunting Land Rentals By Owner, is a marketplace that connects landowners with hunters seeking private hunting land access across the United States and Canada.

How much funding has HLRBO raised?

HLRBO has raised approximately $4.1M across multiple funding rounds, including a $2.5M round announced in 2026.

Who founded HLRBO?

HLRBO was founded by Heath Schubert, who serves as Founder and CEO.

Who led HLRBO's latest funding round?

Mairs & Power Venture Capital led HLRBO's $2.5M funding round.

What is LandKey™?

LandKey™ is HLRBO's proprietary transaction platform that combines contracts, payments, and insurance into a single workflow.

How large is HLRBO's marketplace?

HLRBO reports more than 225,000 users, 14,000 paying subscribers, and over 1.7M acres listed across the United States and Canada.

What will HLRBO do with the new funding?

The company plans to invest in parcel-level mapping, AI-powered land scoring, trail-camera intelligence, and 3D property visualization.

Why does HLRBO matter to investors?

HLRBO represents a growing vertical marketplace that digitizes private hunting land access while building transaction infrastructure around an underserved market.