Vietnamese hospitality startup M Village has raised $26 million in new capital, a major step for a company that aims to build a modern hospitality brand across Vietnam and beyond. DealStreetAsia listed the deal among its latest private equity stories, with the report titled “Vietnamese hospitality startup M Village bags $26m in new funding.”
M Village, now known as Modern Village Lifestyle, has built its business around a simple idea. People want a place that feels like home but also gives them the ease of a hotel. The company combines private rooms, serviced apartments, shared spaces, local design, and digital services under one brand.
The new $26 million gives the company more room to grow. It also comes at a key time for Vietnam’s hotel and travel sector, where demand for better short-stay and long-stay options has grown. The company has already built a strong base in major Vietnamese cities, with more than 30 properties across Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, according to Forbes Asia.
A New Type of Hotel Business
M Village does not follow the old hotel model in a simple way. Its properties are designed for people who want more than a room for one or two nights.
The company offers serviced apartments and rooms for both short and long stays. Many guests are young professionals who want comfort, good design, useful services, and a sense of community. Forbes Asia said most M Village guests stay for a month or longer, which gives the company a different position from a normal hotel.
This model can appeal to people who move between cities for work, travel, or personal reasons. It can also suit people who do not want to sign a long home lease but still want a stable place to live.
The result is a mix of hotel, serviced apartment, and co-living space. That mix has helped M Village create its own place in Vietnam’s fast-changing hospitality market.
The Story Behind M Village
M Village was founded by Nguyen Hai Ninh, who is also a co-founder and former CEO of The Coffee House, one of Vietnam’s well-known coffee chains. The company started around the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, when travel and hotel demand faced a sharp shock.
Instead of seeing the crisis as only a problem, the team saw a change in how people wanted to live. More people had flexible work options. Some young workers wanted to move between cities. Others wanted a place that gave them both privacy and a social space.
M Village was built around that change.
The first M Village site opened in Ho Chi Minh City. The company then added more properties and expanded its offer. Its early model used partnerships with property owners, which allowed the startup to grow without the need to own every building itself.
That approach can help a young company grow faster while keeping its use of capital under control.
A Focus on Young Urban Customers
M Village has mainly focused on urban customers, especially young professionals and local millennials. Its properties aim to offer a higher level of comfort at a price that can stay below that of some luxury hotel brands.
The company has also placed value on local character. Its spaces combine modern design with features that reflect the city and its culture. This gives guests a more personal experience than a standard hotel room.
The model also works well for people who want services close to home. A guest can have a private room but also access shared areas where they can work, meet other people, or relax.
This balance between privacy and community is one of the main ideas behind the M Village brand.
Growth Across Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi
M Village has built a large base in Ho Chi Minh City and has also expanded into Hanoi. Forbes Asia reported in 2024 that the company had more than 30 properties across the two cities.
That figure shows how fast the company grew from its first few sites.
Early data also showed strong demand. In March 2022, M Village had five active properties and 11 more sites under preparation in Ho Chi Minh City, with about 300 rooms. At that time, its occupancy rate was about 90% to 95%.
The company later expanded far beyond that early base. Its growth has come from a mix of new properties, local demand, travel demand, and partnerships with property owners.
The latest $26 million deal could help it take this model to a much larger scale.
M Village Has Attracted Major Investors
M Village has not built its business alone. It has attracted support from several investors from Vietnam and other parts of Asia.
Its earlier backers include Simple Tech Investment, Vulpes Ventures, Genesia Ventures, and Access Ventures. In 2024, Trip.com Group also took a minority stake in the company through a Series B deal. Forbes Asia reported that M Village raised $10 million in that Series B round, led by Trip.com.
The company also raised $1.7 million in an earlier round from Simple Tech Investment, Vulpes Ventures, Genesia Ventures, and angel investors.
A later $2.3 million internal round was also reported in 2023.
These earlier deals helped M Village build its property network and improve its technology. The new $26 million deal now gives the business a much larger pool of capital for its next stage.
Why the New Capital Matters
The biggest value of the new capital is the freedom it can give M Village.
Hotels and serviced apartments require money for property upgrades, furniture, staff, technology, marketing, and day-to-day operations. A larger capital base can help the company open more sites without placing too much pressure on its cash flow.
The money can also help M Village improve its digital systems. Technology has always had a role in its model. The company has used digital tools to make property management and guest services easier.
A stronger technology layer can help a hotel group manage more sites without a similar rise in administrative work.
The new capital can therefore support both physical growth and better operations.
The Brand Has Also Changed
M Village has also moved toward the name Modern Village Lifestyle, a change that reflects the wider scope of its business.
The company is no longer limited to the image of a small co-living startup. Its current brand presence covers hotels, serviced apartments, and resort properties. Current hotel listings also identify properties such as Grand Signature Resort Hoi An as part of the Modern Village Lifestyle brand.
This change points to a larger ambition.
M Village wants to become a lifestyle and hospitality group rather than only a company that rents rooms. That gives it more ways to serve guests, from short holidays to longer city stays.
It also gives the brand more room to enter different parts of the travel market.
Vietnam Offers a Strong Market
Vietnam has become an important tourism and business destination in Southeast Asia. That creates a large market for hotels and other forms of accommodation.
Large international groups such as Marriott and Accor already operate in the country. Local hotels also serve a wide range of customers. M Village sits between these two ends of the market.
It can offer a more polished experience than many small local hotels while keeping a stronger local feel than some large international chains.
That position could become even more useful as Vietnamese cities attract more visitors, workers, and digital professionals.
The company also has an advantage from its local knowledge. It understands the habits of Vietnamese customers and can design its properties around local demand.
A Different Path to Hotel Growth
One of the most interesting parts of M Village’s model is its relationship with property owners.
Rather than buy every building itself, the company can work with owners and turn existing properties into M Village sites. This can reduce the need for very large real estate purchases.
The model also gives property owners a way to improve the value of their buildings while M Village handles the hospitality side.
A similar approach has helped other property and hospitality startups grow across Southeast Asia. But M Village has built its own identity through its focus on design, service, technology, and community.
That mix could help it stand apart from both traditional hotels and basic rental platforms.
What Comes Next for M Village
The $26 million capital raise marks a major new phase for M Village. The company now has more financial strength to add properties, improve its services, develop its technology, and expand its brand.
Its past growth gives a clear view of what the company can do. It moved from a small startup with a handful of properties to a hospitality group with more than 30 properties across Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
The company has also attracted major names such as Trip.com and several venture investors. Its earlier rounds include the $1.7 million seed round, the $2.3 million internal round, and the $10 million Series B led by Trip.com.
The latest $26 million deal is therefore not the start of the M Village story. It is a new chapter in a story that began with a simple idea: create better places for modern people to live and travel.
If the company can keep its service quality high as its network grows, M Village could become one of Vietnam’s most notable home-grown hospitality brands. Its next test will be whether it can turn fresh capital into wider reach, stronger customer loyalty, and a lasting position in Southeast Asia’s travel and accommodation market.
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