Lyric Raises $ 160 Million in Debt and Equity to Fuel the Next Generation of Hospitality – TechCrunch

Lyric, a platform for people who have a hard time choosing between a hotel and an Airbnb, announced today the closing of a $ 160 million financing round (a seamless combination of the debt and equity). Airbnb directed the equity financing. Other investors in the fund included Tishman Speyer, RXR Realty, Event Ventures, SineWave, Dick Costolo, Adam Bain and existing investors Barry Sternlicht, NEA, SignalFire, FifthWall and Tusk Ventures.

Lyrical is a welcome platform for business travelers. The company secures its own multi-family residential property inventory through partnerships with homeowners. From there, the company uses its designers to beautify the place and pack it with many amenities, including a local coffee roaster's coffee and a fully functional kitchen.

You can think of Lyric as a premium operator, "said Andrew Kitchell, co-founder and CEO. "We do everything from selecting sites to building a team of brand and designers to managing each piece every day. We are a modern hotel operator with a significantly different offer. "

The startup uses a proprietary application called Tidy to manage room cleanups. The application not only guides the cleaners in the process of preparing a lease for the next customer or customer, but also asks them to take photos to verify that the part meets the standards. The cleaners are not used in the house, but rather by Lyric partners with local suppliers for cleaning and maintenance of rooms. The company also uses technology to determine the locations that work best in a given city for a Lyric rental.

One of the biggest differences between Airbnb and Lyric is that Lyric is more of an upscale hotel operator, placing the latter in close relationship with the owners rather than oppose it. Lyric argues to the owners that they may be tenants of anchoring in a new building, which means that they can avoid at least some of their inventory if they are not localized. This can also be considered a convenience for other tenants, who can offer their visitors a discount on a different floor of their building.

Here's what the President of Airbnb's homes, Greg Greeley, had to say:

At Airbnb, we've seen how hotel entrepreneurs such as the Lyric team can help deliver incredible experiences and help guests feel as though they could belong to anywhere in the world. Lyric has combined the latest technology, strong partnerships with the real estate community and advanced design, and we are excited to support their work.

This financing comes at an interesting time for the hotel market. While Airbnb disrupts hotels, the lines are blurred between what is a hotel and what is a rental. We have already seen significant acquisitions in the sector (see the acquisition of OneFineStay by AccorHotel, for $ 170 million), as well as by major players. WeWork has launched a cohabitation product called WeLive in 2016.

Lyric is currently available in 13 markets and its co-founder and CEO, Andrew Kitchell, said the company was operating legally in each and every one of them. The company provides studios, 1BR and 2BR units, at a starting price of around USD 200 / night, depending on the market.

With this new funding, Lyric hopes to expand its business from 500 units in 13 markets to 1,000 units by the end of the year. Lyric has raised a total of $ 185 million.