Rental Startup Domio Faces Likely Shut Down After Failing to Raise Funds

Domio, a short-term rental startup founded in 2016, has laid off most of its staff, is looking to sell its assets and could shut down, according to two investors in the company and documents viewed by The Information.

After failing in an effort to raise at least $10 million in capital, the company laid off the majority of its employees earlier this month and decided to pursue an alternative to bankruptcy known as an assignment for the benefit of creditors, a form of insolvency in which a third party oversees the sale of a company’s assets, the two investors said. The events come three months after The Information published an investigation showing Domio had flouted local rental laws in some cities, used misleading online identities to rent homes on Airbnb and engaged in other questionable business practices.