Saudi Arabia-based vacation rental marketplace Gathern raised a $6 million Series A round, led by STV with participation from existing investors Vision Ventures, 500 Startups, angel investor Naef Sultan AlAthel and ARG Limited.
Gathern, is the first peer-to-peer platform authorised by the kingdom’s Ministry of Tourism. Through the platform, users can rent villas, apartments, farms, rooms and yachts, among other options, directly from the owner.
“Saudi Arabia has a renewed vision for its tourism sector, with both domestic and international tourism seeing significant support. With Gathern, we look to offer a different experience from the traditional travel experience, by providing unique tourist residences from actual residents. This allows anyone to explore the real culture and cities in Saudi Arabia,” Latifa Altamimi, co-founder and CEO at Gathern said.
The female-led Saudi start-up will use the latest funding to invest in developing its product and further deepening its geographical footprint within Saudi Arabia, where it is currently active in over 100 cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Abha, Al-Baha, Taif, Al-Ula, and Umluj, among others.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Gathern – it is our first investment in the travel space, and the largest ever investment in a female-led Saudi start-up. We believe that Latifa and the Gathern team have the right engine to tackle this fast-growing market with a fresh approach,” Ahmad Alshammari, partner at STV, said.
Domestic and international tourism has been a core focus of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. By 2030, the country aims to welcome 100 million international and domestic visitors, roughly three times the current population of the country.
Gathern today has the capacity to host over 1.2 million guests per month, with its capacity growing month over month. The income of top hosts on the platform exceeded SAR60,000 ($16,000) per month.
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