£5.7m Series A fundraise led by Octopus Ventures, on top of seed round led by LocalGlobe in 2016
The Plum Guide has completed its Series A fundraising with a group of Europe’s top tier investors, having achieved runaway growth since launch last year.
The company has developed a unique “Science behind the Perfect Stay” proposition, through the combination of data and expert human curation, which has resonated strongly with consumers. Plum Guide Home Critics — experts with backgrounds in hospitality, design and luxury travel — ‘test’ the top rated homes from over 25 different booking platforms. Homes are scored on soft criteria like design features and sociability, as well as hard criteria like the height of the shower head and the strength of the WiFi speeds, with over 500 data points collected on every home. Only 1 per cent of homes pass The Plum Test and are listed on the platform, with a stringent process for feedback and retesting to ensure homes and hosts retain their high standards.
The London-based startup is aiming to do more than provide discerning consumers with a much-needed filter in a saturated marketplace & establish the definitive seal of quality in the homestay sector. The Plum Guide is looking to decode the criteria for a great stay for each customer type: as the company collects more data points on customers’ preferences and feedback, it can utilise the datasets it holds on both customers and homes to accurately ‘matchmake’ guests with their dream homes.
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