Short-term apartment-style accommodation company Frontdesk has secured $6.8 million in Series A funding, which is a combination of debt and equity, the company announced. Founded in 2017, Frontdesk currently operates in 28 cities and has more than 500 fully serviced apartment suites. About a third of its guests are business travelers, according to a company spokesperson, and the company plans to focus on expanding that share this year.
"This provides us the capital to not only survive the crisis, but it will also allow us to accelerate our growth again when travel rebounds," said Frontdesk co-founder and CEO Kyle Weatherly in a statement.
Frontdesk recently laid off 35 of its 241 employees because of the effects of Covid-19, but it also has been providing lodging for doctors, nurses and other hospital staff for both short-term stays of a few nights, to longer-term stays of one to six months, said the spokesperson.