Frontdesk, a Milwaukee-based short-term rental
property management company, has reportedly laid off all of its staff after
failing to raise funding, according to a report
from TechCrunch.
The article says Frontdesk informed its 200 full-time,
part-time and contract employees during a brief Google Meet call Tuesday that
it would be filing for state receivership – a court-managed debt restructuring
process that is an alternative to bankruptcy.
PhocusWire has reached out to Frontdesk CEO
Jesse DePinto and the startup’s public relations agency for comment. While the company’s website still functioned Wednesday morning, searches for properties
in any of Frontdesk’s 25 markets returned a result of “no stays available.”
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Six
months ago Frontdesk acquired Zencity, a Chicago-based short-term rental
operator – its first acquisition and described at the time as the first of
several planned by the startup.
In 2022, Frontdesk
had taken over management of units from other companies that had shuttered,
including WanderJaunt, Stay Alfred, Lyric and Domio.
Founded in 2017, Frontdesk
was a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2022 and had raised about $26
million from investors including JetBlue Ventures, Veritas Investments and San
Hill angels, according to Crunchbase.
In 2022, co-founder Kyle Weatherly transitioned to board
director from CEO and co-founder DePinto became CEO.
In August, Latin
America-based short-term rental startup Casai ceased operations, and in
November Zeus
Living – which had Airbnb among its investors – also shuttered.