A shared office group run by a former advisor to David Cameron is raising £6m from investors a year after the ousting of its other co-founder.
Sky News has learnt that Second Home is close to finalising its latest fundraising in the wake of a torrid period that raised doubts over its survival.
Sources said that Rohan Silva, an aide to Mr Cameron when he was prime minister, had notified investors about the company's latest fundraising in recent days.
He is understood to have told them that the round would be led by Robin Klein, one of Britain's most respected early-stage investors, with £3m of match-funding provided by the government's Future Fund.
Mr Silva has been focused on cutting costs to help Second Home come through the coronavirus pandemic, which has raised major questions about companies' future working arrangements and real estate requirements.
A loss-making site in Los Angeles is said to have been on track to break even by the end of this year, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, with Mr Silva said to have told shareholders that the company is in talks with landlords about further savings on rent in return for lease extensions.
Second Home was set up in 2014 and has raised funds from a string of well-known business figures.
Despite denying a year ago that Sam Aldenton, its co-founder, was stepping down after a massive cost overrun at its inaugural American site, Mr Silva is now understood to have told investors that Mr Aldenton was indeed forcibly removed from the business earlier this year.
The company also operates in Lisbon, and is said to be planning further expansion once revenues have begun to recover on a sustainable basis.
Second Home has been contacted for comment.
