Traveling for work is no walk in the park, but that doesn’t mean your hotel rooms need to be a bummer. Mint House has a plan to spice up the business trip experience, and it just checked in with a nice sum of cash to do so.
Founded in 2017, Mint House operates as a cross between Airbnb and hotels. Catering to business travelers, the company offers residential units synced to a mobile app, where guests can check in, order food, reach a concierge and access any other amenities you’d encounter at a hotel.
The idea stemmed from founder Will Lucas’ own experiences traveling for work. He loved staying in Airbnbs, but they couldn’t always be relied upon to be clean or accessible.
“It bummed me out that I had to choose the hotel, which is a less comfortable and dynamic stay,” Lucas said. “I realized the need to professionalize the experience.”
Mint House partners with landlords and developers at multifamily homes to lease between 20 and 200 units in a building. Those locations provide business travelers with an authentic experience a la Airbnb, while its mobile app gives users access to the amenities that a hotel would provide.
Mint House provides the same access to amenities to people living in the apartment at no cost, according to the company.
The company announced on Thursday that it has raised $15 million in a Series A round to expand into new markets and add new units. The company already offers 200 active units and has 200 more scheduled to open by the summer of 2019.
The company has 250 additional units under contract beyond that.
The round will kick off the company’s growth, Lucas said. They plan to grow from 35 employees to more than 100 by the end of the year.
“What this means for us is that we can accelerate our growth in the next year,” Lucas said. “We plan to open up in at least 10 additional cities and dramatically increase our footprint and unit count. It also allows us to develop our technology and build out a world-class team.”
Mint House launched its first location in Nashville, and is now in several cities across the country, including Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis and Miami.
Revolution Ventures led the funding round, with participation from several CEOs and executives from hospitality brands, including Starwood Hotels CEO Tom Mangas, Travelocity’s former CEO Carl Sparks, and St. Regis Hotels’ former President Kerry Hatch, among others.
NextView Ventures, Nelstone Ventures, Ingleside Investors, and Herington LLC also joined the round.
