Short-term accommodation marketplace Airbnb led a $160m series B round for US-based upscale holiday accommodation provider Lyric today that included real estate developers Tishman Speyer and RXR Realty.
Obvious Ventures, SineWave, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), SignalFire, Fifth Wall Ventures and Tusk Ventures also participated in the round, along with private investors Dick Costolo, Barry Sternlicht and Adam Bain.
Lyric runs a service that leases apartments or floors in residential blocks, refurbishes and furnishes them, and then rents them out to business travellers through its app and website as well as other platforms including Airbnb.
The series B cash will fund the expansion of the company’s platform and the strengthening of its technology, co-founder and CEO Andrew Kitchell told VentureBeat.
“We are incredibly excited to have Airbnb, the company that reinvented how we travel, along with renowned real estate partners and elite investors believing in us at Lyric to create a new category of accommodations for the modern traveller,” Kitchell added.
Lyric has now raised a total of $185m, it said. Fifth Wall, NEA and Sternlicht had previously contributed to a $15.5m series A round in February 2018 that included insurance group Axa’s corporate venturing vehicle, Axa Strategic Ventures, as well as NFX Guild.
Greg Greeley, president of homes for Airbnb, told TechCrunch: “At Airbnb, we have seen how hospitality entrepreneurs like the team at Lyric can help deliver amazing experiences and help guests feel like they can belong anywhere in the world.
“Lyric has combined the latest technology, strong partnerships with the real estate community and cutting-edge design, and we are excited to support their work.”
Photo courtesy of Lyric Hospitality, Inc.
