Selina hit a $1.2B valuation on day one — the hostels were auctioned two years later

Selina was founded in 2014 by Daniel Rudasevski and Rafi Museri around the digital-nomad economy: take underperforming hotels, redesign them with local partners, open fast, and sell work-live-travel stays to remote workers across Latin America and beyond. At the end of 2022 it went public through a SPAC merger; on the first day of trading the shares jumped from $10 to $40.90, a 400% surge that valued the company at about $1.2 billion.

The listing papered over the losses underneath: $139 million lost in 2020, $186 million in 2021, $198 million in 2022, and another $46 million in the first half of 2023. The stock fell more than 99%, to cents. A year of layoffs and closures did not close the gap, and in December 2023 the rescue arrived on the creditors' terms: Osprey put in $68 million of new money and new debt, taking effective control and leaving the founders with a small share.

Even that did not hold. Selina failed to publish financial reports, drew repeated Nasdaq delisting threats, and in July 2024 its board said there was no chance of avoiding insolvency. Trustees auctioned the business: all 100 hostels across 22 countries were sold to Collective Hospitality. The public investors who bought at $40.90 — and backers including WeWork's founder Adam Neumann — held the receipt for a valuation that had lasted one trading day.