Wander, a smart homes network provider, today announced raising a $20 million Series A led by QED Investors, according to a press release.
The company says it will use the funding to expand its property portfolio, grow its remote-first team and continue building its travel experience platform.
The Series A also included participation from Redpoint Ventures, Authentic Ventures, Fifth Wall, Susa Ventures, Thirty Five Ventures (Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s VC), a16z and a number of angel investors. The funding follows Wander’s seed round sixth month and brings the company’s total funding to $27 million.
With more than 20 million professional US jobs projected to be fully remote by the end of 2022, and at least 50% of American workers prioritizing remote flexibility, Wander aims to provide customers with high quality, smart tech-enabled living solutions.
“Our goal is to build the infrastructure to experience the world. We’re scaling rapidly to meet the demand of our more than 30,000 community members, with dozens more properties coming soon. We’re already seeing our vision for the future take shape,” Wander founder and CEO John Andrew Entwistle stated in the release.
The network owns 100% of the homes on its platform, enabling it to provide guests with quality guest experiences. While existing travel options tend to be unreliable or unsuitable for work, Wander places an emphasis on delivering travel experiences that enable digital nomads and remote workers to work from anywhere.
The company currently offers stays at its California properties in Joshua Tree, Lake Tahoe and Mendocino County and Oregon’s Port Orford and Bandon Dunes, but plans to open up more than dozens of new locations across the US this year.
In addition to a growing waitlist, Wander also plans to support more than 2,000 ‘Founding Members.’ Many of those members participated in this latest round as angel investors, according to the release.
Chuckie Reddy of QED and Alex Bard of Redpoint will also join the company’s board as a result of the funding.
“While we hopefully return to ‘normal’ in 2022, flexibility and remote work seems to be a common theme. After two years of being restricted from travel and exploring new places, it has become clear how important it is to have a change of scenery from time to time,” said Reddy.
“Blending those two things together in one extraordinary experience is exactly what Wander is all about. People are living busier lives than ever — when they spend time to travel, it should be perfect,” Reddy said.
In other recent proptech news, real estate firm Metrovacesa has set its sights on becoming the first Spanish developer to sell its properties in the metaverse. Clikalia also raised $85 million in cash to expand iBuying in European and LatAm markets.