Finland-headquartered Hostaway, which sells management software to short-term rental owners and operators, has announced $365 million USD in strategic growth financing to fuel its European expansion and product and artificial intelligence (AI) development efforts.
Once this transaction is complete, General Atlantic and PSG Equity will be “significant minority shareholders.”
The round is being led by New York’s General Atlantic with support from existing Boston-based backer PSG Equity. It comes approximately a year and a half after PSG invested $175 million into Hostaway. At the time, sources told BetaKit that PSG acquired an undisclosed majority stake in Hostaway as part of that deal.
Once this latest transaction is complete, Hostaway stated “General Atlantic and PSG Equity will both be significant minority shareholders” in the company. According to TechCrunch, the round comes at a $925-million post-money valuation.
Founded in 2015 by CEO Marcus Räder, CSO Saber Kordestanchi, and Mikko Nurminen, Hostaway’s software helps owners and property managers of short-term rental properties manage listings, bookings, and communication across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, and other platforms. As of last year, Hostaway’s clients collectively managed over 100,000 properties in more than 100 countries.
Though its founders hail from Europe, Hostaway was previously based in Canada. Today, 30 of Hostaway’s over 230 employees are located here.
Räder has lived in Toronto for the vast majority of the company’s existence. But after spending its first nine and a half years here, he moved to Poland earlier this year, a Hostaway spokesperson told BetaKit.
RELATED: PSG makes investment in Hostaway to expand its vacation rental software amid travel rebound
In a statement, PSG managing director Edward Hughes claimed that Hostaway has grown three-fold since PSG invested in the company last year, but did not disclose its revenue.
Hostaway claims that this fundraise will represent the largest in its market segment to date. The vacation rental software firm differentiates itself from Canadian-founded, San Francisco-based Sonder, which manages properties directly, and American home-sharing platform giant Airbnb, which it classifies as an online travel agent.
Hostaway has recently launched new dynamic pricing, loan, insurance, and smart lock integration offerings, as well as integrated AI to support guest messaging, content creation, and language translation.
General Atlantic has also backed Airbnb. Hostaway hopes to lean on the growth investor’s experience and expertise in vertical software, integrated payments, and travel and hospitality as it looks to build its presence in markets like France, Italy, and Spain, launch new products, and develop more AI tools.
Feature image courtesy Hostaway.
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