CuddlyNest,
an Orlando-based online travel agency, has raised $3.5 million from angel
investors. Founded in 2017, this brings the company’s total funding to $14
million, all from private investors.
CuddlyNest
says it currently offers booking for four million listings in more than 200
countries and territories, ranging from luxury hotels to hostels and a variety of
vacation rentals.
The company will use the funding to grow its team and add new
product features.
“I’m thrilled with this milestone. The support of
investors has been a significant show of commitment to our vision and paves a
new way for us to do better - and go bigger - with our business model,” says
Ritesh Raj, CuddlyNest co-founder and COO.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
“As travel habits shift, there is an increased need for search
options curated for their emerging needs and newfound pain points. Our core
focus is to design the ultimate and most intuitive search results page and to
ensure inventory always matches search intent, and with a wide variety at that.”
The company says it is focused on providing more accommodations
with flexible cancellation policies, since that comprised the majority of its
bookings in the last six months. It will also add filters to help users
identify properties that have implemented energy-saving and eco-friendly strategies.
CuddlyNest claims to offer the “lowest aggregate
commission fee” compared to other global OTAs, and it uses a fee-sharing model
that enables property owners to customize how much of the CuddlyNest commission
they pay versus how much the guest pays.
For 18 months beginning in December, the
company will offer the “CuddlyNest Care Program,” which will waive the
commission fee for individual property owners – not property management companies
- on as many as two listings.
Raj says the
purpose is to “empower individual owners and support them for the next 18
months” and also “to add inventory at a much faster pace.”
Prior to this funding round, CuddlyNest
raised $6 million in October 2020.
* Check out this interview with CuddlyNest's Raj, recorded for the PhocusWire Pulse: Rentals On The Rise event in September 2021.
PhocusWire Pulse: Rentals On The Rise - Sizing up the market as a newbie