Stay Alfred, a short-term rental company that operates out of multifamily properties, just raised $47 million in its Series B funding round.
Chicago-based real estate tech fund, Nine Four Ventures, led the round.
"Stay Alfred is leading the emerging wave of companies driving the evolution of the real estate industry and defining a new hospitality segment,” Nine Four General Partner Kurt Ramirez said in a statement.
“Combine that with a tenacious, always-do-better culture and we believe they're building something special," he added.
With the closing of this round, Stay Alfred’s total funding stands at $62 million.
Stay Alfred's business model is similar to that of WhyHotel, built upon symbiotic relationships with multifamily properties in lease-up. So far, Stay Alfred has roughly 2,000 short-term rentals in its portfolio and has hosted about 500,000 guests since its founding in 2011.
"We recognized that most options in our industry lacked the consistency that travelers still seek, even as those travelers pursue alternatives to the bland shoeboxes of the traditional hotel offering," Stay Alfred CEO Jordan Allen said in a statement.
“We've focused on developing the infrastructure and expertise to deliver not only a consistent, high-end experience for our guests, but for our developer partners as well," he added.
The advent of this new market segment in the short-term rental space is indicative of the multifamily industry seeking a solution for its luxury lease-up struggles and peace with the short-term rental market.
Companies like Stay Alfred allow multifamily properties a padded runway as they go through lease-up and a way to include short-term rental options without the Wild West scenarios that they fear from the likes of Airbnb.
