Hostel Provider Selina's New Funding Will Allow It to Survive Crisis: CEO

Selina, which provides travelers with co-working spaces, hostel-style lodging, and activities, has raised about $60 million in extra funding, sources told Skift. The startup, founded in Panama, declined to comment on the funding total but confirmed it had raised more financing "in that range." "We have the funds now to get through the crisis and to be strategic enough to get stronger," said co-founder and CEO Rafael Museri. Before this financing, Selina had raised $225 million in venture equity funding from investors such as Access Industries, Grupo Wiese, and Colony Latam Partners. It had also secured more than $300 million for a real estate investment fund. "We have had some country-level real estate fundraising in specific geographics," Museri said. The company plans to continue opening properties, such as its first one in London later this year, sources said.

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Before the global pandemic, Selina promised a booming business, betting that it could turn distressed real estate into revenue-generating lodging at scale. Founded in 2015, Selina grew at a time when private market investors were willing to fund millions in early losses for startups. In the past year, it went from running 46 properties in a dozen countries to having more than 110 leases, with close to 70 open properties. But the pandemic has jeopardized Selina's ambitions. Local governments have idled most of its properties during the epidemic. By mid-March, the company feared it was heading toward bankrupt