Mint House, an apartment-style startup geared toward business travelers, received $15 million in Series A funding, led by Revolution Ventures. Mint House CEO Will Lucas told BTN 60 percent to 70 percent of its users are corporate travelers. The company, founded in 2017, operates 200 rooms in Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Miami and Nashville and plans to add another 200 by summer 2019. An additional 250 rooms are in the pipeline, and Lucas said Mint House will enter 10 more cities within the next 12 months, including San Diego, Minneapolis, Louisville, Austin and Dallas.
Lucas started Mint House to marry the short-term rental experience with the reliability of a hotel. He preferred Airbnb and similar short-term rentals when traveling but when on the road for business was compelled to use hotels. "When on a business trip and on a tight schedule, I didn't have room for error and couldn't gamble with [a host] not being there or [me] not being able to find the room. [I saw] there was a need to professionalize the experience and improve upon usability, and we knew we could achieve that through smart application technology and elevate the quality across the board." That technology includes a mobile app that allows guests to book, check-in, access services and amenities and communicate with a dedicated 24/7 concierge staff responding to guests across the U.S. In addition to the app, guests can book via the website, via online travel agency channel partners or via a corporate partnership.
The Mint House sales team directs outreach to corporations. "We find there is a lot of demand internally at organizations we've spoken to for this type of product, yet the travel department internally is unable to say yes to those demands," Lucas said. "A lot of companies are unwilling to let folks stay in unproven, unknown third-party residences on Airbnb. By providing security and trust, we can satisfy the internal needs and the travel demands a lot of companies are seeing."
Lucas said he's expanding Mint House's connection to corporate travel buyers now because, by the time the sales cycle turns over in the next 12 months, "we'll be in most of the cities where [companies] will want to place people and have travelers. Every company has a different system. Some are more formal, with RFP processes, and there's a six- to 12-month lag before we are added in [a corporate program]." But Mint House's rapid expansion will make it a viable option for corporate lodging programs. "For some of those more complex sales cycles and more complex steps you have to go through to be a preferred partner, those opportunities are opening up for us, and we can approach larger companies."
Revolution Ventures has participation from key hospitality executives, including former Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide CEO Tom Mangas, former Travelocity CEO Carl Sparks and former St. Regis Hotels president Kerry Hatch.