Domio

Domio is 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 leases parts of residential buildings, furnishes the units, and then rents them to travelers.[6]

Domio
Type of site
Privately held company
FoundedJune 22, 2016 (2016-06-22)
HeadquartersNew York City
Area servedUnited States
Founder(s)Jay Roberts
Adrian Lam
Key peopleJim Mrha, CEO
Calvin Anderson, CCO
Leslie Pchola, COO
Brian Quinn, CDO
IndustryLodging
URLwww.staydomio.com

The name "Domio" is a portmanteau of "dom" from domicile, meaning home, and "mio", to signal personalization.[7]

History

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][8][9][10]

In October 2018, Domio raised a $12 million Series A round from Tribeca Venture Partners and SoftBank Capital.[11][12]

In September 2018, Upper90 invested $50 million into a joint venture with Domio.[13][14]

In May 2019, the company opened its first location in New Orleans in a 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.[15][16]

In November 2019, the company leased a 175-room development in Wynwood.[17]

Controversies

Illegal Permits, Lawsuits and Airbnb Suspension

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.[18]

In June 2019, co-founder and COO Adrian Lam was sent a notice by Metro Nashville Government in Davidson County Circuit Court. Lam received an injunction to stop renting out his North Nashville condominium. Domio revenue manager Juan Miguel Rivera Pecunia and marketing director Umer Usman were also sent a notice by Metro Nashville in Davidson County.[19][20]

In August of 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. Co-founders Adrian Lam and Jay Roberts resigned in exchange for Airbnb reinstating Domio.[21]

References
  1. Wang, Jenna (September 30, 2018). "Why This 'Apart-Hotel' Startup Is Betting $50 Million On Group Travel". Forbes.
  2. Poczter, Sharon (3 April 2018). "Move Over, Uber. Here Are the 2 Things Successful Sharing Economy Companies Are Doing Now". Inc.
  3. Menze, Jill (November 19, 2018). "STARTUP STAGE: Domio is targeting group travel with tech-forward apartment-hotels". Phocuswire.
  4. Moore, Clayton (October 8, 2018). "Domio aims to dethrone Airbnb with new group travel accommodations". Digital Trends.
  5. Nitkin, Alex (October 26, 2018). "Domio acquires Reserve Rentals, bringing "apartment hotels" to Chicago". The Real Deal.
  6. Putzier, Konrad (May 7, 2019). "Airbnb, Marriott Battle Upstarts for Short-Term Rental Market". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. "Creating a brand expression to match its growth ambition". Prophet. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. Putzier, Konrad (20 November 2018). "This debt startup wants to take on real estate VCs". The Real Deal.
  9. "The 2019 30 Under 30". Forbes. 2019.
  10. "Tapping Into The Group Travel Market With Apart-Hotels". pymnts.com. October 31, 2018.
  11. "Domio Brings Total Funding to $67M with Latest Investment" (Press release). PRWeb. October 22, 2018.
  12. Loizos, Connie (October 19, 2018). "Domio raised $12 million in Series A funding to build 'apart hotels' across the US". TechCrunch.
  13. Hill, Jeremy (September 24, 2018). "Upper90 in Group-Travel Joint Venture With Tech-Driven Domio". Bloomberg News.
  14. "Domio Encouraging Tech-Friendly Travel With 'Apartment-Hotels'". Cheddar. December 4, 2018.
  15. "Domio Raises $100 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate Growth and Further Disrupt the Market" (Press release). PR Newswire. December 20, 2019.
  16. Lunden, Ingrid (December 17, 2019). "domio raises 100m in equity and debt to take on airbnb and hotels with-its-curated-apartments". TechCrunch.
  17. Arrojas, Matthew (November 27, 2019). "Airbnb competitor leases 175-room development in Miami's Wynwood (Renderings)". American City Business Journals.
  18. Sullivan, Jack (January 9, 2018). "Everyone knows Anthony in the North End – just not this one". CommonWealth Magazine.
  19. Mazza, Sandy (September 18, 2019). "What is Domio, the short-term rental platform under fire in Nashville?". The Tennessean.
  20. 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.
  21. "How One Rental Startup Gamed Airbnb". The Information. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
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