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Blueground raises $180m at $750m valuation
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS / Greece: Short-term furnished apartment rental startup Blueground has raised $180 million in Series C funding, including $140 million in equity funding, from investors headed up by WestCap Group managing partner Laurence Tosi, giving the company a reported valuation of $750 million. Tosi, previously CFO of Airbnb and an investor in Sonder, led the […]
JLL Short Stays launches to compete with major OTAs
Reading Time: 2 minutesUK: Real estate services firm JLL has announced the launch of JLL Short Stays, a booking platform offering business and leisure travellers professionally managed and fully flexible short-term rental accommodation in the UK, in a bid to compete with the major online travel agencies [OTAs] in the segment. JLL Short Stays, which is being positioned […]
Join Flywire, Dtravel, Globe Apartments + I-PRAC as RockSTRz returns
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWorldwide: RockSTRz webinars return for a fourth series this Tuesday 21 September [4pm BST] with a session on “Digital trust and safety: Combatting the evolving complexities of travel payment fraud”. Knowing how to stop credit card not present fraud is only one solution. Fraudster techniques and methodologies are evolving rapidly to target new payment options like […]
“We’re in the same boat”: Buoy co-founders Tim and Candice Speicher
Reading Time: 6 minutesUS: STRz speaks to Tim and Candice Speicher, co-founders of Buoy, a revenue management tool for the global vacation rental industry, about launching their business as a husband-and-wife duo, how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected how short-term rentals are priced, and their predictions for the future of AI and automation in the sector. Please introduce yourselves, […]
HomeToGo to receive $295m funding injection as SPAC moves closer
Reading Time: < 1 minuteGermany: A special purpose acquisition company [SPAC] merger between vacation rental distribution channel and metasearch engine, HomeToGo, and listed shell company Lakestar SPAC I has moved a step closer after shareholders unanimously backed the transaction. Although proceeds from the deal were reduced by investor redemptions, Berlin-based travel tech startup HomeToGo will receive a funding injection of […]