Competition
MallardBay
- Status
- active
- Updated
- March 21st 2026
Quick Facts
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| URL | https://mallardbay.com |
| Category | Hunting + Fishing Booking Marketplace + SaaS |
| Founded | ~2021, Baton Rouge, LA |
| Founders | Logan Meaux (LSU '21), Joel Moreau |
| Employees | Small team |
| Revenue Model | Hybrid: marketplace (10% take rate on free tier) + SaaS ($99/mo Pro) |
| Funding | $7.94M ($1.8M early + $4.6M Series A, Mar 2024) |
| Investors | Soul Venture Partners, Acadian Capital Ventures |
What They Do
Hybrid marketplace + vertical SaaS for hunting and fishing outfitters. Started as a booking marketplace ("Airbnb for guided hunting and fishing"), now pivoting toward selling SaaS tools to guides — custom websites, payment processing, marketing services, lead management. Branded as "GuideTech."
Product & Features
- Core offering: Booking marketplace for guided hunting and fishing
- GuideTech Lite (Free): Marketplace listing + 10% commission per booking
- GuideTech Pro ($99/mo): Reduced take rate + custom website + dedicated account manager
- Add-on services: Paid ads management, social media marketing, custom websites for outfitters
- Platform: Web + mobile
Key Metrics
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Trip bookings | $8M+ over two seasons | GlobeNewswire |
| Outfitters | 380+ across 38 states, 7 countries | GlobeNewswire |
| Sportsmen served | 4,500+ | GlobeNewswire |
| Booking growth | 600% YoY | GlobeNewswire |
What They Do Well
- Hunting + fishing — broader than FishingBooker's fishing-only focus
- Fast growth (600% YoY) from small base
- Young, hungry founder with family entrepreneurship background (father founded Waitr food delivery)
- Series A gives them runway to iterate
What They Do Poorly
- Pivoting to SaaS is a trap. Selling $99/mo websites and lead management to fishing guides is a brutal GTM motion in a low-tech, fragmented market. Guides don't want to buy software — they want customers.
- Tiny supply side — 380 outfitters vs FishingBooker's 8,700+ captains
- Hunting-heavy. The origin story is a bad hunting trip booking experience. Fishing feels bolted on.
- $8M in bookings is small — at 10% take rate that's ~$800K in revenue over two seasons
- SaaS tools are commodities — any booking platform can offer websites and payments
Audience & Positioning
- Target audience: Sportsmen (hunting-first, fishing-second) looking for guided trips
- Positioning: "GuideTech" — SaaS for outfitters + marketplace
- Audience overlap with us: Moderate — their hunting focus dilutes the fishing overlap
Differentiation
- They're selling picks and shovels to guides. We'd give the tools away free to attract supply, then monetize the demand side through booking.
- No conditions data, no content, no community
- Hunting-heavy — Meridia is fishing-first
Origin Story
Logan Meaux tried to book a guided hunting trip, couldn't find a good way to do it online. Built MallardBay. Won 3rd place at 2021 J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge at LSU. Father Chris Meaux founded Waitr (food delivery app).
Open Questions
- How much of their booking volume is hunting vs fishing?
- Burn rate on $7.94M — how much runway left?
- Is the SaaS pivot working or is it a sign the marketplace isn't scaling?
- Will they refocus on marketplace or keep pushing SaaS?
Intel Log
2026-03-16
- Full competitive workup with hard data from Series A press, TechCrunch, GlobeNewswire
- Key insight: pivoting to SaaS ($99/mo websites for guides) is a sign the marketplace isn't scaling organically. Selling SMB tools into this category is a grind.
2026-03-14
- Initial stub created