# Kim Lalande

> Kim Lalande is the founder and CEO of KEY.co, an Austin-based hospitality marketplace that pairs vetted luxury vacation homes with in-home concierge services such as private chefs, grocery stocking, and in-home massage. Drawing on years of business-heavy travel and hotel stays, she built KEY to close the gap between the space of a private home and the service of a five-star hotel. Since founding the company in 2014, she has grown it to thousands of curated homes across dozens of destinations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean, raising roughly $16-18M in venture funding along the way.

- **Role:** Founder + CEO at KEY.co
- **Organizations:** KEY.co (Key Travel Concierge, Inc.), DLA Piper, Teakwood Capital
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Corporate Communications, The University of Texas at Austin
- **Known for:** Founded and scaled KEY.co into a luxury vacation-rental and concierge marketplace spanning 80+ destinations across four countries, Grew the platform to thousands of vetted, top-tier vacation homes, Raised roughly $16-18M in venture and private funding over multiple rounds

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Corporate Communications
- **pre-2014** — Led business development at Teakwood Capital, a private equity firm investing in high-growth software companies
- **pre-2014** — Served as Director of Business Development at global law firm DLA Piper, working with major technology-sector clients
- **2014** — Founded KEY.co (Key Travel Concierge) in Austin, Texas, and became Founder + CEO
- **2017** — Raised a Series A round for KEY (reported at roughly $7.6M)
- **2022** — Later-stage funding reported (Series C), bringing total funding to roughly $16-18M
- **2024** — Grew KEY to thousands of curated homes across 80+ destinations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean

## Achievements

- Founded and scaled KEY.co into a luxury vacation-rental and concierge marketplace spanning 80+ destinations across four countries
- Grew the platform to thousands of vetted, top-tier vacation homes
- Raised roughly $16-18M in venture and private funding over multiple rounds
- Built a three-sided marketplace connecting travelers, homes, and local service vendors
- Frequent podcast guest and startup-summit speaker on hospitality, entrepreneurship, and vacation-rental operations

## Latest updates

- **2024-02** — KEY.co continues to operate from Austin, marketing a portfolio of thousands of curated homes and in-home services across 80+ destinations.

## Links

- Website: https://key.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimlalande/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kim-lalande
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-15