9 Vacation Rental Websites Backed by Venture Capital Funding
If you follow the industry news, you'll know that a handful of unique listings websites have raised a significant amount of funding lately and are growing incessantly. Here we show who they are and how to get your properties listed!
by Vivien Magyar
June 13, 2019
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If you follow the industry news, you’ll know that there are a handful of unique vacation rental websites that attract investment from top Venture Capital firms.
Here is a list of 9 startups specialising in different niches of the vacation rental market that have raised a significant amount of funding and are growing incessantly. Find out which ones you should list your properties on now!
MagicStay
MagicStay is one of the world’s largest vacation rental websites for business travellers. They believe that serviced apartments can meet the requirements of business travellers just as well or even better than hotel rooms can. They work together with companies to provide alternative accommodation for their employees.
The idea has certainly piqued the interest of investors: In January 2018, MagicStay raised a funding round of €1.5 million to develop their technology and expand into new markets. Currently, they have over 200,000 apartments in 90 countries, all carefully selected and professionally managed to suit corporate travellers on business trips. The startup based in France has a bright future ahead of it: over 1,000 companies have already worked with them, and the number keeps growing.
Get listed on MagicStay if…
You’d like to attract business travellers to your property.
HeyHolidays
HeyHolidays is an Indian niche booking site offering vacation rentals in one-of-a-kind destinations like Croatia, Bali, Goa, Rajasthan, New Zealand and Sweden. The promising startup has its headquarters in Singapore and operates out of Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, a country that’s not only an exciting travel destination but a booming market for outbound tourism, too.
In February 2018, HeyHolidays raised $1 million in seed funding to increase the number of their listings and run marketing campaigns to grow their customer base, especially in the local market. They currently have listings in 120 countries and over 200 destinations all over the world.
Get listed on HeyHolidays if…
You have properties in India or you’d like to attract travellers from India to your vacation rental.
GlampingHub
Glamping has been a hot travel trend for quite a few years now – investors have noticed it, too. The spotlight is currently on the San Francisco-based GlampingHub, a popular specialised listing site for glamping properties.
In May 2018, GlampingHubraised an undisclosed amount in series B funding to grow their leading booking platform for close-to-nature accommodation. The number of listings available on GlampingHub is constantly increasing, as is the number of travellers looking for a unique outdoor experience. Have you considered adding them to your marketing portfolio?
Get listed on Glamping Hub if…
You have a 5-star property with an outdoor element that you’d like to get in front of dedicated glampers.
Spotahome
Startups that excel at the online booking game can catch the attention of Silicon Valley investors, whether they’re based in the US or outside of it.
In June 2018, the Madrid-based rental property listing site Spotahome signed a $40 million investment deal led by Kleiner Perkins, a Silicon Valley VC firm. The startup offers mid to long-term rentals and is using the newly secured funds to rapidly expand Europe-wide. It’s only a matter of time until they move into the vacation rental space, too!
Get listed on Spotahome if….
You’d like to list your properties as mid to long-term rentals and reach an audience looking for apartments in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Lisbon, Milan, Rome, Brussels, London, Dublin or Berlin.
Luxstay
The Hanoi-based Luxstay is a fast-growing vacation rental listing site that offers alternative accommodation in one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet: Vietnam. With over 10,000 listings, the Vietnamese startup is becoming the go-to booking site for travellers looking for unique experiences staying in locals’ homes, villas and luxury apartments.
Luxstay raised $3 million in January 2019 to accelerate the growth of the company. We’re looking forward to seeing how they put the new funds to use!
Get listed on Luxstay if…
You have properties in Vietnam and want to attract travellers looking for authentic stays.
2nd Address
Did you know that each year, corporate travellers go on more than 480 million business trips? As this number increases, the demand for business travel accommodation is rising, too. 2nd Address, a startup based in San Francisco, is addressing this need by developing a booking platform that functions as an Airbnb for business travellers.
In February 2019, 2nd Address raised a whopping $10 million in funding – investors simply cannot ignore the growing trend that is alternative accommodation for business travellers and they’re putting their bets on innovative startups like 2nd Address. The company currently has over 6,900 listings in major US cities and is expanding like crazy.
Get listed on 2nd Address if…
You have properties in the US and would like to tap into the growing market of business travellers.
Misterb&b
The gay travel market is a growing niche that presents opportunities for startups like Misterb&b, a vacation rental website for the LGBTQ+ community. Present in 135 countries with 310,000 listings, they are a truly global travel platform aiming to provide safe accommodation for gay travellers – which, in many parts of the world, is not a given.
After graduating from the 500 Startups accelerator and raising a total of $13.5 million in funding, the San Francisco-based Misterb&b managed to raise another 500K through a WeFunder crowdfunding campaign – and it took them less than a week. Their plan is to start moving into the hotel sector and offering even more types of accommodation for LGBTQ+ travellers.
Get listed on Misterb&b if…
You’re a gay-friendly host and would like to become a part of a global community.
The Plum Guide
Have you ever wondered what the best vacation rentals in the world must be like? There’s a booking site that has gathered all of them for you. The Plum Guide is essentially the Michelin Guide of vacation rentals: they take the best properties from 25 listing sites and select only the top 1% in each city.
Seeing the opportunity that lays in the luxury travel market, investors wasted no time to jump aboard. The Plum Guide, based in London, raised no less than $18.5M in March 2019 to keep curating their exclusive list of properties with the help of data and human agents who personally vet all listings.
Get listed on The Plum Guide if…
Your properties are up to their incredibly high standards and you’re targeting travellers who want to stay in the top 1% of vacation rentals in the world.
Holidu
It’s not just vacation rental marketplaces that have received attention from VCs – metasearch websites have been getting some love, too.
In September 2019, Holidu, a global price comparison or metasearch site for vacation rentals raised €40M in series C funding.
Holidu was founded in 2014 and has since grown into one of the biggest vacation rental search engines. Its 10 million monthly visitors can browse among 15 million rental properties listed across 600 websites, including the big ones like Airbnb and HomeAway and smaller, niche platforms too.
