Investors back Plum Guide with $31m as CEO heralds ‘revenge travel’ boom

Extended Series B funding round includes successful $3.5m crowdfunding round backed by hosts, guests, and fans of Plum Guide

Investment led by Beringea with participation from existing investors Talis Capital, Hearst Ventures and Latitude (LocalGlobe)

‘Michelin Guide for Homes’ will enable Plum Guide to build on its 500 destinations across 29 countries

Plum Guide today announces that it has extended its Series B funding round to raise a total of $31m. The investment, which builds on a $9m cash injection led by Beringea late last year, strengthens the company’s position to capitalise on the ‘revenge travel’ boom. The round also incorporates $3.5m raised through a successful crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, which enabled Plum Guide’s fans, guests, and hosts to invest in its future growth.

The investment will allow Plum Guide to accelerate its growth as it creates the definitive list of the world’s most extraordinary holiday homes. Plum Guide’s distinctive vision, to create a world-class trust mark for travel, has been core to the company’s success to date which sees it outranking all competitors as the most recommended homestay company.

Plum Guide finds and awards the best homes in each market through a unique combination of data, technology and expert ‘home critics’. By offering a curated alternative to mass-market booking platforms and selecting only the top 3% of properties in any destination, the company attracts a mature, urban, affluent consumer segment who expect an exceptional experience every time.

This latest funding round signals the start of the travel boom with global travellers shunning hotels in favour of alternative and more personal accommodation* with British holiday makers planning to spend £800 more on a holiday this year compared to 2021.**

Founder and CEO Doron Meyassed says:

“With British consumers spending more in 2022 than in previous years, there is no room for error and so we strive to set that global standard for quality in the travel sector that has previously been lacking. We are catering to discerning global travellers who simply expect the best; they want unique properties in exciting destinations for a homestay in comfort and style and this investment will allow us to scale up to meet that demand.”

Karen McCormick, Chief Investment Officer at Beringea, commented:

“As consumers start making up for lost time, there is going to be vast demand for exceptional, reliable travel experiences. The entrepreneurial experience of Doron and his remarkable team has ensured that the pandemic has simply driven the company from strength to strength, and its impressive performance as lockdowns have eased demonstrates that Plum Guide is a business strongly positioned to harness the ‘revenge’ travel boom.”

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Notes to editors

*McKinsey Travel Industry report confirms rise in homestays above hotels

**Plum Guide, with YouGov conducted a survey of 4,000 British and American holiday makes. The study investigated holidaymakers’ dependence on reviews; revealing that 1 in 3 of Britons refuse to book a holiday without reading online reviews, despite 21% of Britons having been seriously let down by a holiday because of them.

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About Plum Guide

Founded in the U.K. in 2016, Plum Guide is now present in over 500 locations across 29 different countries, including Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Milan and Rome. Plum Guide separates the good from the great in the vacation rental category via their proprietary “Perfect Stay Test”, the world’s most meticulous home test.

This unique home test is assessed by Plum Guide’s ‘Home Critics’ and incorporates a 150+ point test that combines tech, data and expert human curation, allowing Plum Guide to select its definitive collection of the world’s best homes. As the world’s first independent expert arbiter of quality in the homestay space, The Plum Guide is to vacation rentals what the Michelin Guide is to restaurants.

The ‘Science behind the Perfect Stay’ is a continually-evolving body of IP developed by analyzing thousands of customer reviews and gathering insights from psychologists, designers, hoteliers, travellers and architects on the precise ingredients a space needs to deliver a perfect stay. This knowledge informs the criteria in a test so rigorous that only 3% of all homes in a given area are selected to be part of Plum Guide’s curated collection.