Technology

Posted on November 8, 2017 by staff

New investors check in at Hostmaker

Technology

Tech-driven hospitality management firm Hostmaker has secured $15m in Series B funding to drive its expansion beyond Europe.

Described as London’s number one Airbnb management services company, Hostmaker was established by entrepreneur Nakul Sharma to take the hassle out of managing short-term rentals for homeowners.

In a nutshell, the firm’s full-service offering covers everything from photography and writing the Airbnb listing to supporting the hosts with pricing and marketing.

The new funding round is led by Sansiri, one of Thailand’s largest premium real estate developers, and Hong Kong-based hospitality real estate investor Gaw Capital. Existing investors DN Capital, Ventech and DSGCP also participated.

It comes close on the heels of a £5m series A round that was raised earlier this year.

The investment will support Hostmaker’s continued technology development in proprietary pricing and operations applications as well as growth and expansion beyond Europe, in particular building a presence in Asia to support property investors there.

“Having raised an investment round just a few months ago, we were very much focusing on delivering a great service to our customers and establishing our leading position,” Sharma said.

“However, we’ve always welcomed a conversation with strategic investors who believe in our global vision of creating a new experiential brand in the fast-growing homestay category.

“Sansiri approached us with an exciting proposition to take our brand to Asia which was always on our roadmap. Along with Gaw Capital’s Asian roots and global footprint, it felt like the right moment to accelerate our expansion in the East.”

Srettha Thavisin of Sansiri added: “The home sharing market is at an all-time high with 150M people using Airbnb globally. Property management businesses that support the home sharing industry are growing at a similar speed and we are excited to work with Hostmaker, who are leading the charge in Europe by providing the highest quality service out there.”

Hostmaker currently operates in London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona and employs a workforce of 150 full-time and part-time staff.

Sharma recently told BusinessCloud that the business is aiming to double the number of markets it operates in over the next six to 12 months.