Selina, a London-based hotel and co-working company backed by Adam Neumann, has reportedly raised some $60 million in financing.
Speaking with Skift, the publication that first reported the news, representatives for the Selina declined to clarify the exact amount, but confirmed it had raised more financing “in that range.”
“We have the funds now to get through the crisis and to be strategic enough to get stronger,” CEO Rafael Museri told the publication.
Founded in Panama in 2015, Selina operates more than 60 locations across the globe, but its U.S. launch has been rocky.
The Real Deal previously reported that its executives were for months unable to persuade investors to commit to a $500 million real estate investment fund to buy U.S. properties. It also fell short on targets, opening just two of more than a dozen Selina-branded locations slated to launch here last year. To cover its operational costs, executives had been trying to secure a $75 million convertible loan, internal documents show.
The pandemic only intensified its financial problems: Citing sources familiar with the matter, Skift reported that the company feared it was approaching bankruptcy in mid-March. (Representatives for Selina disputed that account.)
To reduce costs, the company furloughed hundreds of employees in recent months, and negotiated discounts with many of its landlords.
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Internal documents from before the pandemic forecast the company would be profitable by 2022 and reach revenues of more than $2 billion by 2024 — projections that some would-be invested had balked at.
But Yoav Gery, Selina’s president, told TRD earlier this year that the company’s pitch was well received.
“We’ve met, and continue to meet with, many potential investors around the world,” he said. “Some have chosen to invest and some have not. But we consistently receive positive feedback about our brand, our model and our team.”
At the time, he said the company was in the process of securing a $60 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank to fund growth projects in South America.
It’s unclear what the source of the latest $60 million raise was.
[Skift] — Sylvia Varnham O’Regan