Sonder provides stylish, fully furnished apartments and short- to long-term rentals outfitted by an in-house design team, with most units offering kitchens and in-unit laundry and app-based check-in, service requests, and local tips. The company emphasizes contact-free service and flexible pricing aimed at month-plus stays and launched an extended-stay initiative in March to meet rising demand. Sonder manages its own supply chain—pre-vetted furniture assortments, merchandising and sourcing teams, and company warehouses—to maintain consistent design quality and enable rapid installation and shipping to properties. During the pandemic Sonder reported occupancy rates of about 80%, which the company says is significantly above the industry average. It implemented elevated cleaning and safety standards based on WHO and CDC guidance with input from the Cleveland Clinic. The company has used recent fundraising to continue growing thoughtfully and adding new properties. Sonder operates and leases hotel‑style properties and serviced apartments that are furnished and include curated furniture, art, essentials, and phone/text concierge support. Its spaces feature dining areas, living spaces and extra bedrooms designed for travel and urban living. The company currently manages over $2.3 billion of projects spanning mixed‑use, residential, serviced apartment, apart‑hotel and hotel assets across many cities including San Francisco, New York, London and others. Founded in 2012 and co‑founded by CEO Francis Davidson and Lucas Pellan, Sonder operates thousands of spaces. The company intends to use new funding to expand operations. Following the recent round the firm was valued at over $1 billion. Sonder directly maintains and offers well-designed apartments for living that include kitchens, large spaces and services such as maid scheduling and mini-bar menus. Each apartment is uniquely customized to reflect its neighborhood environment. The company operates properties in Boston, London, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, New Orleans, New York City, Miami and Montreal. Co-founded in 2014 by Francis Davidson and Lucas Pellan, Sonder is headquartered in San Francisco. The company has hosted more than 200,000 guests and was on track to reach $100M in revenue in 2018. At the time of the article it had raised $135M in total funding. Sonder is a peer-to-peer “hometel” rental service that manages a collection of houses, condos, apartments and boats for travelers. Each hometel must meet an accuracy checklist before joining the collection and bookings are instantly confirmed. The company provides 24/7 customer support and concierge services via email, phone and Facebook Messenger, addressing guest requests within minutes. At launch Sonder offered more than 500 hometels across six cities (Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Montreal and Vancouver). It planned to expand into Miami, New York, San Francisco and Toronto later that year. Sonder raised $10M in a Series A (bringing total funding to $15M) and intends to use the funds to expand into new cities, enhance the guest experience and onboard key hires. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Francis Davidson and is based in Montreal and San Francisco.

Total raised

$475M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series E

Latest activity

Jun 2020