• Placemakr

  Participated · Seed · Jun 2018

  Placemakr is a Washington, D.C.-based flexible-use multifamily and hospitality operator and real estate investor. The company leverages a platform that helps multifamily developers and owners convert existing properties into commingled spaces combining multifamily and hospitality uses. Recent launches include Placemakr Wedgewood Houston and Whyhotel by Placemakr, Columbia, and it has a partnership with Bernstein Management Corporation and Urban Atlantic to convert a K Street office building into a hotel-apartment hybrid. Placemakr raised $65M in new funding, bringing total capital raised to more than $350M. The company intends to use the proceeds to double down on property acquisitions and developer partnerships across the U.S. to meet demand for apartment-style hotels, short-term rentals, and flexible-living accommodations. Leadership includes CEO Jason Fudin and the recent appointment of Timothy G. Franzen as Chief Development Officer to expand inventory under management. Placemakr, formerly WhyHotel, operates a hybrid “hospitality living” model that combines pop-up hotels, flexible long‑stay properties, turnkey serviced apartments, and unfurnished rentals with optional hospitality services. The company sources apartment‑style inventory and manages or owns buildings, furnishing a portion for short‑ and mid‑term stays while leasing other units as traditional rentals. Its customers are largely business travelers needing stays longer than hotels but shorter than typical apartment leases; Placemakr also offers corporate housing and turnkey homes. The company emphasizes on-site staff alongside tech‑enabled services and says over 60% of first‑time bookings are direct. Placemakr has begun acquiring assets—buying a 313‑unit building in Nashville and planning a mix of furnished and unfurnished units—and aims to be involved in unit construction in the future. It is Washington, D.C.‑based and positions its blended inventory mix as a way to drive higher average occupancy and operational efficiency. WhyHotel operates 100- to 250-room pop-up hotels with 24/7 on-site staff in newly built, luxury apartment buildings, providing developers a way to utilize units during lease-up and guests an alternative travel stay. Led by CEO and co-founder Jason Fudin, the company runs a hospitality model that integrates short-term stays into residential developments. WhyHotel plans to use new funding to enhance its team, expand its presence nationwide and add products and services for guests. The company has created a new business arm, Hospitality Living, targeted to launch in 2022 to deliver flexible-use development offerings. Financially, WhyHotel has raised over $35M since its 2017 inception and recently closed a Series B round of more than $20M. The company is based in Washington, DC. WhyHotel operates temporary "pop-up" hotels of roughly 100–250 rooms with 24/7 on-site hospitality, security and cleaning staff inside newly built, luxury apartment buildings. The company partners with developers and property owners to monetize units during lease-up while offering guests furnished apartments with building amenities and discounted temporary rates. After several 2018 pop-up launches in D.C. and Baltimore, WhyHotel is expanding to Northern Virginia (Ballston Quarter, Centro Arlington and The Boro) and plans nationwide growth in 2019 with ambitions to move beyond the East Coast. The company raised capital to fund new site launches and to hire across technology, brand, sales and human capital. WhyHotel also says it will pursue additional pop-ups in existing cities to create a more permanent presence despite the temporary nature of individual programs. The company is Washington, D.C.-based. WhyHotel is an alternative lodging service that operates 100–250 room pop-up hotels with round-the-clock on-site staff in newly built, luxury apartment buildings. The company offers long-term renters in those buildings the benefit of an on-site hotel to host friends and family at rates about half the price of traditional hotels. WhyHotel supports the hotel experience with 24/7 hospitality staff and has run successful pop-ups such as The Bartlett in Washington, D.C. After that success, it launched a new pop-up in Baltimore’s Downtown/Inner Harbor area in partnership with Monument Realty at 225 North Calvert Street (150+ units). Led by President and Co‑founder Bao Vuong, the company plans to use recent funding to launch hotels in its pipeline and to source talent for upcoming projects across major U.S. cities. Operations focus on integrating temporary hotel units into existing luxury residential buildings to capture both transient guests and building residents’ needs.

No current team members are available.