Vietnamese rental sharing startup Luxstay announced that it has raised USD 4.5 million in a bridge round led by two new investors from Korea, GS Shop and Bon Angels, according to a press release.
This is the second time Luxstay sought external investment this year. In early January, the platform secured USD 3 million from Y1 Ventures and CyberAgent Ventures. In all, investors have poured USD 10.5 million into the company.
Luxstay was founded in early 2017 by Steven Nguyen after he recognized the potential of Vietnam’s vacation rental business. It’s similar to Airbnb in that it lets users find different types of places like apartments or whole villas, and that users can also list their own places and become hosts.
Rental sharing is just one pillar of the sharing economy, a global trend that’s gaining momentum. PwC projects that the “five key sharing economy sectors—travel, car sharing, finance, staffing, and music and video streaming—have the potential to increase global revenues from roughly USD 15 billion today to around USD 335 billion by 2025.”
Luxstay cites data compiled by Statista to conclude that revenue from short-term vacation rental activities in Vietnam alone will amount to more than USD 100 million this year and almost twice that in 2023.
Luxstay targets domestic tourist but also collaborates with local partners in other countries that have many outbound tourists who visit Vietnam, including Korea and Japan. The startup is looking to kick off its Series A round this year.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad
