- Locale, a leading upscale aparthotel brand, announced recently that it raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Amplo Ventures
Locale — a leading upscale aparthotel brand — recently announced it has raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Amplo Ventures with participation from Susa Ventures, Malkin Holdings, Rogue Insight Capital, and Metropolis Capital Partners. Including this round of funding, Locale has raised a total of $14 million since it was founded.
Launched in 2016, Locale has grown rapidly and transformed hundreds of apartments into high-quality accommodations for business, leisure, and extended stay travelers. Essentially, Locale has developed a best-in-class guest experience while operating more efficiently and cost-effectively than traditional hotels and vacation rental managers.
Locale operates across major markets across the U.S., including Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Nashville, and Minneapolis. And the company employs over 30 full-time team members. And despite limited capital investment to date, revenue has grown 200% year-over-year while as guest satisfaction scores remain among the highest in the lodging industry.
This round of funding will be used for further investing in digital product innovation, enhanced in-room offerings, and executive-level hiring. And it will also enable Locale to push forward with its pipeline of projects in markets like Denver, Nashville, and Charleston by providing guests with a fully branded and curated end-to-end experience rivaling the best upscale hotels.
Locale’s business model provides many benefits to real estate owners and developers, including faster lease-ups, less vacancy, shared services and operations, and resident perks. And the contemporary aesthetics of the properties and tech-forward experience appeals to a variety of guests ranging from families to millennial business travelers and larger groups.
“We first decided to back Locale when we realized how thoughtful they are in building the next generation of accommodations for travelers,” said Sheel Tyle, founder and CEO of Amplo, the lead investor in the latest round. “We are now increasing our commitment to Locale as it continues to redefine the short-term rental category by introducing a premium apartment hotel brand centered around quality in-room products, intentional design, local curation and most importantly, a superior hospitality-driven experience.”
Locale founder and CEO Nitesh Gandhi is known for establishing the company after spending many years in the hotel and vacation rental industry. And it allowed him to become intimately familiar with how to build a successful and beloved brand in this new category.
And this enabled the company to successfully partner with multifamily groups like Greystar, The Dinerstein Companies, and AMLI on multiple projects across the country.
“This year has been an exciting one of expansion for Locale—from the number of cities which we are located to the number of guests we’ve served,” explained Gandhi. “It’s been an important stepping stone in achieving our ambition to create the leading modern apartment hotel brand. This latest round of funding, together with our invaluable real estate and brand partnerships, will help Locale’s continued growth, which include a number of full-building deals currently in development that will allow travelers to experience Locale’s artfully curated approach to hospitality in a complete environment.”
