New York-based Blueground, the property-management company that operates furnished 30-plus-day rentals, has raised $45 million in a series D round.
12.03.2024 - 21:53 / skift.com / Srividya Kalyanaraman / Rob Greyber
Few people know Vacasa like Kimberly White does. In 2009, she became Vacasa’s first employee after having been a housekeeper for founder Eric Breon. In 2023, Breon left the company, but as a major shareholder, was able to appoint her as a board member.
Last week, White stepped down from the board after Breon sold Vacasa shares that brought his holdings below the 10% ownership threshold.
“From my end, I offered the board deeply embedded industry insights from living hospitality for so long and being the first person ever hired there,” White told Skift. “So I think it’s a loss to the board to not have continuity. It’s a loss for the board and the management team because they had someone who really understood what they’re up against on the board.”
On the other hand, White added that the board was pretty big — it has 10 director slots — and there’s an intentional effort to reduce its size.
In her day job, White has been the chief operating officer of HostGPO, which sells products to hosts, since October 2023.
White posted about her resignation on LinkedIn.
“I started answering the phone,” White said. “Vacasa didn’t have a guest policy. There were barely any owner contracts yet. There was nothing except the website. It was six months old.”
In 2010, she became in charge of global operations. (Vacasa withdrew from most of its non-U.S. operations, predominantly in Europe and South America, in 2020.)
In 2018, White said she she focused on building quality standards for Vacasa’s homes. She worked with homeowners in teaching them how to treat their houses as a business product.
In the last quarter of 2023, both gross booking value and revenue decreased by 19% from a year earlier. Additionally, Vacasa experienced a 5% decline in homes on the platform.
CEO Rob Greyber said during an earnings call in November that he hoped the churn would end after the first quarter of 2024.
At the start of 2023, Vacasa changed its property acquisition strategy with the aim to cut costs and to move toward profitability. It decided to de-emphasize acquisitions of regional property management companies in favor of its salespeople convincing homeowners to sign on. Some of the churn might have been attributed to these acquisitions of portfolios of homes, and some owners not viewing the change as favorable to their businesses.
“I think Vacasa takes homeowner churn seriously,” said White. “And there are trends of it being high in the industry, and others hold it a little too close to their chest. The companies that are not public are not sharing their stats.”
When asked what the company is doing wrong, White responded by saying Vacasa’s enemy has always been time.
“The key advantage for so long was the tech ability. The
New York-based Blueground, the property-management company that operates furnished 30-plus-day rentals, has raised $45 million in a series D round.
It will soon be easier and cheaper to fly from Las Vegas to London. Norse Atlantic Airways is launching a new route from London’s Gatwick Airport to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, the airline shared with Travel + Leisure on Thursday. The service will begin on Sept. 12, and operate three times per week. In a nod to the luck that visitors aim to have when visiting Las Vegas, the flight will operate with Norse’s lucky number seven as flight ‘Z0777’. The 9-hour and 50-minute direct route will depart Las Vegas at 4:45pm, and arrive in London Gatwick at 10:35am the following day, local time. The flight will operate on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. “We are excited to introduce this new route from London Gatwick to Las Vegas, a unique city that offers unparalleled diversity, boasting an abundance of entertainment, dining, and recreational options to suit every taste,” Norse Atlantic Airways CEO and Founder Bjorn Tore Larsen said in a statement.
A rep shows off tech device accessories. (Photo Credit: Lark Gould)
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