US: Los Angeles-based premier next-generation hospitality platform AvantStay has announced that Fred Tuomi, the former CEO of Invitation Homes, has joined its board.
The new appointment further strengthens AvantStay’s senior team after the company brought in David Katcher, former global head of operations at ride-sharing platform Lyft, as its new COO.
Tuomi will work with AvantStay to provide leadership and capital market guidance to help the company bring institutional capital to short-term rentals as the next disruptive asset class.
AvantStay co-founder and CEO, Sean Breuner, said: “Fred’s breadth of experience and impact on real estate and proptech over the last 15 years has been foundational to our industry.ย His leadership in the institutionalisation of single-family rentals as a true asset class, leading the merger of Invitation Homes and Starwood Waypoint Homes, and direct involvement in multiple businesses that are spearheading the digital transformation of our industryย has driven meaningful change in the real estate industry.
“We are proud that Fred has recognised the value of AvantStay’s business model, and his appointment to our board signals the strong future of the short-term rental market,” he added.
Tuomi served as CEO, president, and director of single-family rental company Invitation Homes, a single-family rental company with a total market capitalisation in excess ofย $23 billion, from 2017 until 2019. Prior to its merger with Invitation Homes, Tuomi served as CEO and director of Starwood Waypoint Homes, as well as holding senior roles at Colony American Homes and multifamily real estate investment trust [REIT] Equity Residential.
Tuomi said: “I firmly believe short-term rentals are the next market for institutional investment andย growth in the real estateย sector. I have looked at a number of players in this space and I’m impressed by AvantStay’s focus on building the leading hospitality brand in the industry with a true commitment to the consumer.
“Its proprietary end-to-end technologyย platform underlying the entire business enables the company to scale a fragmented industry nationally. Asย the first short-term rental company to raise institutionalย capital for the asset class, AvantStay is poised to transform how both investors and consumers think about short-term rentals,” he added.
Founded in 2017, AvantStay currently operates in more than 100 cities with over 1500 properties in its diversified portfolio
In July, AvantStay announced a round of redundancies as part of a “gradual reorganisation” of the company. It is believed that 43 “job reductions” were made although new hirings are still continuing to take place.
