The funding round was led by Highland Europe and will be used to accelerate the expansion of the business through selective acquisitions in areas where demand for Le Collectionist’s curation and quality is high.
Le Collectionist – the highest-rated luxury holiday brand in the world enabling discerning travellers to share the joy of exceptional, tailor-made rental properties, services and experiences – has raised 60m euros of growth funding from investors led by Highland Europe.
Founded in 2014, Le Collectionist was born to meet the growing demand for highly personalised, exclusive and incomparable holiday experiences. Le Collectionist creates extraordinary holidays for its discerning travellers to share with their loved ones, by curating and opening the doors of the most exceptional homes to rent in the world and personalising them with the best services and experiences in each of their destinations. Le Collectionist creates a community of homeowners, experience providers and travellers who share the same love for beautiful moments, extraordinary places and exceptional know-hows.
Le Collectionist, through its trusted partnerships with homeowners, offers its clients access to an exclusive and curated list of only the most exceptional homes, situated across the most sought-after summer and winter destinations worldwide. Of the homeowners that apply to Le Collectionist each year, only 3% make this exclusive list. Le Collectionist currently partners with owners of 1,800 properties across 30 destinations including the French Riviera, the South-West of France, the Balearic Islands, several destinations in Portugal including Comporta and the Algarve, a large array of the most beautiful Italian regions such as Puglia and Tuscany, the French, Swiss and Austrian Alps, and also the Caribbean, Morocco, South Africa and Costa Rica and more.
Le Collectionist’s global expansion has been supported by key acquisitions, notably of ski chalet rental leader in Switzerland, Bramble Ski and of the rental activity of French Alps real estate key player Vallat group, to expand its hugely popular ski offering. Having focused first in Europe before expanding on a global scale, Le Collectionist’s further acquisitions include the leading Greek property rental company, The Greek Villas; and the top property management company in Ibiza. These acquisitions have provided the company access to new properties in key markets where demand for luxury rentals is high as well as a team of on-the-ground local experts. The latest funding will help Le Collectionist build on this momentum and enable the brand to acquire more local champions to consolidate the fragmented market.
Tailor-made experiences
In the wake of Covid, holidaymakers today are seeking out luxury property rentals that offer unique experiences. This trend of amazing experiences in stunning accommodation is set to be the biggest driver of growth across the global luxury travel market between now and 2028, with reports estimating its value to exceed $50 billion.
Le Collectionist is renowned for its tailored concierge services which add another dimension to the exceptional properties. Delivered through on-the-ground teams who create bespoke experiences and itineraries for guests, each one is handcrafted and curated through Le Collectionist’s partnerships with trusted guides, experience providers, restaurateurs, chefs and other local artisans and helping to support local communities, skills, traditions, and craftsmanship.
In this way, every aspect of a Le Collectionist vacation, from hiring ancient sailing boats to vintage cars, planning bespoke transport, to once-in-a-lifetime activities including secret treks, Michelin stars chef dinners, ski lessons with a former Olympic champion, private spas at home and more, can be catered for. As such, guests can fully immerse themselves in an amazing destination, live like locals and share the experiences of artisan crafts, culture and food with their friends and family.
Leading a charge
Le Collectionist’s success to date is representative of the wider shift towards shared experiences. Le Collectionist is as much about creating an experience for discerning holidaymakers as offering a high quality portfolio of properties with impeccable service.
Le Collectionist has been named one of the best holiday companies in the world by CondéNast Traveler for the past three consecutive years and since 2020, demand for its properties has risen four-fold. It has tripled the number of new destinations in that time, grown the number of active properties by 3.5x, and this growth has generated a 5.5x increase in revenue.
Le Collectionist co-founder Max Aniort said: “Holidays are about creating memories and sharing once-in-a-lifetime moments with the people we love. This is what lies at the heart of everything we do at Le Collectionist. We want our guests to be given the best experiences and the attention they deserve to embrace and share precious time with family and friends. It’s great to have Irena and Highland Europe on this journey, as we share the same philosophy of excellence and leadership in everything we do.”
Irena Goldenberg, Partner at Highland Europe said: “Le Collectionist has become a beacon for luxury, experiential holidays. It’s a testament to the team and their unique and tailored approach to curating holidays that the company is now the world’s leading luxury experience provider, and a trusted brand, with the leading customer satisfaction metrics across the entire industry. The team is as selective about the owners they partner with and the experiences they offer as their customers, and we’re thrilled to be joining them.“
Experiential luxury specialists, OLMA, alongside Famille C (the investment arm of the Courtin-Clarins family), Swiss banks Pictet and Lombard Odier, Kostogri (investment company of Nicolas Béraud) and business angels Fabrice Grinda, Nathalie Le Roy and Xavier Romatet also participated in the round with the support of its current investor Red River West.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
