Domio
 | |
Type of site | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 22, 2016 |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Area served | United States |
| Founder(s) | Jay Roberts Adrian Lam |
| Key people | Jim Mrha, CEO Calvin Anderson, CCO Leslie Pchola, COO Brian Quinn, CDO |
| Industry | Lodging |
| URL | www |
| Part of a series on |
| Homestays |
|---|
| Hospitality exchange services |
| Hospitality for work |
| Hospitality for money |
| Home exchange and others |
Domio was an apartment-hotel rental service catering to group travelers. It is headquartered in New York City and has locations in several cities in the United States.[1][2][3][4][5] The company leased parts of residential buildings, furnished the units, and then rented them to travelers.[6]
The name "Domio" is a portmanteau of "dom" from domicile, meaning home, and "mio", to signal personalization.[7]
After failing to raise $10 million in additional capital, Domio shut down operations in November 2020 and sold its assets through an assignment for the benefit of creditors, with Sherwood Partners overseeing the sale.[8]
History
[edit]Domio was founded in June 2016 and launched in August 2016 by Jay Roberts and Adrian Lam, both former real estate investment bankers at BofA Securities.[3][9][10][11]
In October 2018, Domio raised a $12 million Series A round from Tribeca Venture Partners and SoftBank Capital.[12][13] In September 2018, Upper90 invested $50 million into a joint venture with Domio.[14][15]
In May 2019, the company opened its first location in New Orleans in a joint venture with Upper90.[6] In August 2019, the company raised $100 million, including $50 million of debt from Upper90 and $50 million of equity in a Series B round.[16][17]
In November 2019, the company leased a 175-room development in Wynwood in Miami, Florida.[18]
Controversies
[edit]Permits, Lawsuits and Airbnb
[edit]Domio has come under scrutiny for its business practices in Boston, San Diego, Nashville and other cities. In Boston, Domio set up a fake Airbnb host named "Anthony" and rented out 88 units under the pseudonym.[19]
In June 2019, Domio revenue manager Juan Miguel Rivera Pecunia and marketing director Umer Usman were sent a notice by Metro Nashville Government in Davidson County Circuit Court and received an injunction to stop renting out their North Nashville condominium.[20][21]
In August 2020, Domio was the subject of an investigative piece where The Information reported alleged business practices inside of the company meant to deceive regulators. Two days before the article was published, Airbnb suspended all Domio properties and accounts for over a month.
References
[edit]- ^ Wang, Jenna (September 30, 2018). "Why This 'Apart-Hotel' Startup Is Betting $50 Million On Group Travel". Forbes.
- ^ Poczter, Sharon (3 April 2018). "Move Over, Uber. Here Are the 2 Things Successful Sharing Economy Companies Are Doing Now". Inc.
- ^ a b Menze, Jill (November 19, 2018). "STARTUP STAGE: Domio is targeting group travel with tech-forward apartment-hotels". Phocuswire.
- ^ Moore, Clayton (October 8, 2018). "Domio aims to dethrone Airbnb with new group travel accommodations". Digital Trends.
- ^ Nitkin, Alex (October 26, 2018). "Domio acquires Reserve Rentals, bringing "apartment hotels" to Chicago". The Real Deal.
- ^ a b Putzier, Konrad (May 7, 2019). "Airbnb, Marriott Battle Upstarts for Short-Term Rental Market". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Creating a brand expression to match its growth ambition". Prophet.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "Short-term rental operator Domio shuts down". The Real Deal. November 18, 2020.
- ^ Putzier, Konrad (20 November 2018). "This debt startup wants to take on real estate VCs". The Real Deal.
- ^ "The 2019 30 Under 30". Forbes. 2019.
- ^ "Tapping Into The Group Travel Market With Apart-Hotels". pymnts.com. October 31, 2018.
- ^ "Domio Brings Total Funding to $67M with Latest Investment" (Press release). PRWeb. October 22, 2018.
- ^ Loizos, Connie (October 19, 2018). "Domio raised $12 million in Series A funding to build 'apart hotels' across the US". TechCrunch.
- ^ Hill, Jeremy (September 24, 2018). "Upper90 in Group-Travel Joint Venture With Tech-Driven Domio". Bloomberg News.
- ^ "Domio Encouraging Tech-Friendly Travel With 'Apartment-Hotels'". Cheddar. December 4, 2018.
- ^ "Domio Raises $100 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate Growth and Further Disrupt the Market" (Press release). PR Newswire. December 20, 2019.
- ^ Lunden, Ingrid (December 17, 2019). "domio raises 100m in equity and debt to take on airbnb and hotels with-its-curated-apartments". TechCrunch.
- ^ Arrojas, Matthew (November 27, 2019). "Airbnb competitor leases 175-room development in Miami's Wynwood (Renderings)". American City Business Journals.
- ^ Sullivan, Jack (January 9, 2018). "Everyone knows Anthony in the North End – just not this one". CommonWealth Magazine.
- ^ Mazza, Sandy (September 18, 2019). "What is Domio, the short-term rental platform under fire in Nashville?". The Tennessean.
- ^ Mazza, Sandy (September 18, 2019). "Nashville says Domio, a short-term rental company, is operating illegially". The Tennessean. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019.