Flat-Club secures Series A funding, recruits managers for European push

Short-term rental specialist Flat-Club has completed Series A funding just weeks ahead of launching new markets across Europe.

The funding round was led by Jeremy Coller of Coller Capital and Professor Eli Talmor, head of the venture capital and private equity institute at the London Business School.

Co-founder and CEO Nitzan Yukan did not disclose how much the funding round is worth but says it will go towards extending the service in to new cities and new networks.

The company has already recruited managers for Germany, Spain, France and Holland and will launch those markets in the coming weeks.

Funds will also be diverted to improving the user experience and IT platform.

Flat-Club, founded in November 2010 (TLabs here), has grown from five flats in London to 2,000 apartments and rooms across more than 20 cities.

The aim of the business is to connect hosts with guests they trust via existing social networks like Facebook, alumni of universities and trusted colleagues.

According to Yudan, most stays so far are either for seven or 14 days or two to three months and, he claims, the majority of flats and rooms (70%) on the site are exclusive.

Last summer, rivals in the rental space Wimdu secured funding of $90 million while, just over a month later, Airbnb announced a Series B injection of $112 million.