After Milwaukee-based startup
Frontdesk shut down its short-term rental management business at the start of the year, the former leader of the company is working to launch a new business.
Earlier this month,
Jesse DePinto, co-founder and chief executive officer of Frontdesk, announced the company had
laid off over 100 workers and shuttered its rental management business due to “market headwinds.”
“…the market headwinds were simply too strong to make the model work profitably at scale,” according to DePinto’s announcement.
Now, DePinto’s LinkedIn profile lists him as the CEO of a new stealth startup that launched this month. Stealth startups avoid public and media attention as they work to bring a new product or offering to the market. The business is launched in some degree of secrecy.
DePinto could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
Founded in 2017, Frontdesk became one the fastest-growing companies in the country, ranking on the Inc. 5000 list in 2021 and 2022. DePinto was named CEO in 2022 after the company’s founding chief executive,
Kyle Weatherly, decided to step down from his role but became Frontdesk’s board director.
The tech-enabled startup leased apartments in upscale neighborhoods and then sublet them to guests. The startup’s target market was short-term business and personal travelers.
In June, Frontdesk acquired Chicago-based Zencity a competing short-term rental operator. Frontdesk had raised more than $25 million in funding since its founding.
