Luxury-focused travel platform banks $4.5 million in bridge round

Luxstay, a Vietnamese travel agency platform provider, completed a US$4.5 million bridge round of funding, which included participation from two new investors from Korea: GS Home Shopping and Bon Angels.

Founded in 2017 by Steven Nguyen, Luxstay offers its customers a home-sharing platform with a focus on luxury. The company, which operates from Vietnam, is targeting its services on the Southeast Asian market.

Photo credit: Luxstay

According to data from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Vietnam served about 15.6 million foreign and roughly 80 million domestic tourists during the last year.

Apartments and villa projects have also been on the rise in Vietnam due to abundant supply from the real estate market.

With the statistics, Vietnam is pushing for its tourism sector to become a key economic arm within the next 5 years with government support.

Apart from its focus on premium products, Luxstay differentiates itself from other travel agency platforms, such as Airbnb, with its focus on domestic tourists. The company also has collaborations with local partners from other countries such as Japan and Korea, which have booming tourism industries.

Other VC firms that have invested in Luxstay include Japan’s CyberAgent Venture and Genesia Ventures, Singapore’s ESP Capital and Founders Capital, and Korea’s Nextrans, according to a statement.