Soho House, the luxury hotel and private members’ club, has raised $100 million to fund a global expansion over the next few years — pushing the company’s valuation to $2 billion.
Founder and chief executive Nick Jones told the Financial Times that the company planned to double its venue count to 50 locations, with new sites in Paris, Rome, Tel Aviv and Nashville. It raised the money from Simon Property Group and Bippy Siegal’s Raycliff Capital.
It currently has venues, or “houses,” in New York, West Hollywood, Miami, Chicago, Toronto, Mumbai and other major cities.
“Expansion is definitely ramping up,” Jones told the FT. “We have the infrastructure to do it and we have the appetite — people love a house in their city.”
Despite strong momentum, Soho House has so far failed to turn a profit, reporting a pre-tax loss of £65m in 2018, an increase from £60m in 2017. Jones, however, predicted the company would be profitable within the next two years.
“Opening new houses is not the cheapest thing to do, but if we stopped all of that we would be profitable very quickly,” he said. “But we are in development mode.”
The company was founded in London in 1995 as a “as a home from home for people working in creative fields,” according to its website. It famously curates its membership list to maintain exclusivity, and has denied applications from Kim Kardashian and multiple “Desperate Housewives” cast members.
On its fifth birthday, the Hollywood Reporter described the LA venue as“the most important club in Hollywood — a high-wattage magnet for A-listers and dealmakers.”
Soho House reportedly considered a potential $2 billion IPO in 2018, but it never materialized. [FT] — Sylvia Varnham O’Regan