YourWelcome, the London-based PropTech startup, has managed to rake in £1 million in a round led by Flux Group, along with angel investors including Simon Emeny, CEO of Fullers.
With a pre-money valuation of £5 million, YourWelcome also attracted the support of Sir James Devitt, founder of Herald Hotels.
Started in 2015 by Henry Bennett and Paul Loram, London-based YourWelcome is a subscription service enabling Airbnb hosts to share in the revenue of up-selling local on-demand services. The firm’s modus operandi is simple: it seeks to offer a better hospitality experience by revolutionizing the Airbnb type hosting space. It allows Airbnb hosts to offer a wide range of options, which include late check-outs and luggage storage. Their USP is a custom tablet that they deliver to subscribers: this 8 inch gizmo, pre-loaded with YourWelcome’s custom hospitality software, makes sure that there’s no need to download any other apps, providing with it all the features the guests might need, straight out of the box.
Every tablet comes with a display stand, charger and extra-long charging cable included, so that you have everything to meet guests’ every possible need, allowing them direct access to specially chosen taxis, takeaways or discounted shows; the startup then takes a percentage of revenue made from every booking.
The firm says it will use the new inflow of funds to increase distribution across the US, Europe and Asia.
Henry Bennett, founder of YourWelcome said:
We knew when launching YourWelcome, that a product that could bring a new revenue stream to the short stay accommodation eco-system would be in high demand. This funding round will enable us to keep up with the huge demand we have experienced and continue our rapid international expansion.
The news follows from the firm having closed a £400,000 Seed after participating in PiLabs, London’s proptech accelerator.
Commenting on the round, Faraz Nagree, lead investor at Flux Group added:
It has been an incredible journey so far and we at Flux see great potential in both the YourWelcome team and the corporate let/short stay market.
Currently, YourWelcome claims it is used by 5,000 guests in London every month. Since its launch, the firm also says its tablets have been installed in more than 2,000 properties in 23 different countries.
