In March 2024, when Great North Ventures took the lead in an investment round of $1.6 million in HLRBO (Hunting Land Rentals By Owner), the company already had shown promising growth, with 57,000 users. Its platform is a marketplace that connects hunters and landowners. Fast forward, HLRBO now boasts 143,000 users. That’s a growth rate of more than 240% in just a year and half. What’s more, monthly recurring revenue (MRR) at HLRBO is up 171% from 2024. Spend per customer is up 40% as well. And the number of new subscribers is up 65% over last year.
What explains such a surge? CEO Heath Schubert would tell you it’s the result of meeting the needs of hunters, with a continuous stream of product enhancements, including a mobile app, a trail cam network, digital payments, and more. As I stated in my post in March 2024, “Heath is among the scrappiest and most resourceful founders I’ve come across since starting our VC fund seven years ago. To be able to bootstrap HLRBO to the national scale they’ve already reached is beyond impressive. And the market adoption of HLRBO is showing no signs of slowing down.”
No slowing down indeed. “Landowners on our platform are adding six new properties per day,” said Schubert. “We now have listings in all 50 states and Canada, representing an impressive 1.4M acres of land in total. Just so far in 2025, the number of new landowners on our platform is up 68% over last year.”
Landowners offer their properties for lease to hunters who subscribe to HLRBO’s online platform. Schubert says it was born from the desire to streamline hunting access by cutting out traditional brokers and letting landowners list their properties directly, at no cost to them. The goal was improving transparency and accessibility in land leasing. Landowners can monetize unused hunting land, set their own terms, and maintain control. Hunters gain easier access to private land, clearer pricing, and direct communication without intermediaries.
Another key aspect of HLRBO’s growth has been its Field Rep Program. It currently has 114 Fields Reps all over the United States actively recruiting new properties and verifying existing properties. Schubert said he’s targeting 250 Field Reps by year end — so, more than doubling in six months. “This is a key component of our growth strategy, as it provides a local connection to the landowner and an easy way to onboard and get landowners excited and involved in the HLRBO community,” he added. It’s also a great way for these reps, who are highly passionate hunters themselves, to generate some side income.
Constant Advancements
HLRBO has launched many new features and updates in the past year. It recently announced a national trail camera network in partnership with Spypoint. More than 100 cameras have already been deployed on landowner properties, and Schubert said he’s targeting 250 by yearend. “We’re currently working on integrating this with AI to identify and classify property wildlife and make connections with weather, wind, and other factors to provide real-time ‘e-scouting’ capabilities to hunters looking at HLRBO leases,” he said.
The company just deployed an iPhone and Android mobile app in June and already has 1700 users on those two platforms. Schubert expressed his excitement about the capabilities this will give HLRBO, and the enhanced user experience it will provide for both landowners and hunters.
More recently, the company launched an online payments platform and is now signing leases, selling insurance, and running payments for landowners through the HLRBO platform — which represents an industry first. It’s been live for just two weeks now (as of early August), and the company has already processed seven leases through the system. “We’re very excited about the additional capabilities a digital payments system provides,” said Schubert, “and the convenience it offers to our landowners. It provides a safe, secure, and seamless way to handle a leasing transaction.”
HLRBO has had extensive press coverage, including two podcast appearances on the Agriculture of America and Working Ranch Radio networks, and in such publications as Ag Daily, Lancaster Farming, Minnesota StarTribune, MSP Business Journal, TechCrunch, Gulf Coast Media, Delaware Online, Hunting Life, and many more. The company regularly distributes news releases that get more than 500 media hits. In addition, HLRBO generates a significant amount of content, having published more than 60 staff-written blog posts and contributed articles — all told, more than 100,000 words on its website — to keep hunters and landowners engaged and informed about the latest industry developments and happenings.
Reflecting on the Journey
What’s CEO Schubert’s personal take on his company’s growth since founding? “HLRBO has grown faster than I ever thought possible, and the momentum is only accelerating. We have an excellent team that is executing at all levels, and we are rapidly unlocking land all over the United States for use in outdoor recreation. Without Great North Ventures and their belief in our company and our vision, this wouldn’t have been possible. We are very excited about the future for HLRBO and the rapid growth and possibilities ahead.”
