US: Hostfully, a software-as-a-service [SaaS] startup that aims to help professional short-term rental property managers maximise distribution and deliver the best guest experience, has followed up on its success at the 2022 Shortyz Awards by adding $4 million to its seed funding round.
The latest capital injection brings Hostfully’s total funding to date to $7 million.
The investment round was led by Disruption Ventures, with participation from Precursor Ventures, Trend Forward Capital, Groundbreak Ventures, Celtic House Asia Partners, and several angel investors, including industry experts and customers.
Founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, the company offers two products that are specialised for short-term property managers: Property Management Platform and Digital Guidebooks. Using these products, professional managers centralise their calendar of bookings, adjust pricing, distribute inventory, automate guest messages and collect payments.
The company says it will use the funding to add capabilities to its products, including a native mobile app and multi-unit inventory handling, as well as add to its team focusing on sales and customer success.
Elaine Kunda, managing partner of Disruption Ventures, said: “We are at an inflection point in the short-term rental industry with unprecedented growth. We’re thrilled to continue investing in Hostfully as they deliver more enhanced distribution and monetisation capabilities to property managers.”
“The Hostfully team has proven that they are skilled operators. They have built a solid business with the trifecta of best-in-class products, deep expertise in short-term rental property management, and world class customer success.
“Our investment in Hostfully is in line with our strategy of investing in performance-oriented, high-growth businesses with women at the helm of leadership,” she added.
Hostfully co-founder and CEO, Margot Schmorak, said: “At Hostfully, we want to make the hard business of short-term rental property management easier and more joyful. The current investment gives us the opportunity to reach more property managers, help them work on the go, and uncover new revenue streams in their existing book of business.
“We are also investing in sales, onboarding, and customer success,” she added.
Hostfully’s software platform powers more than 40,000 properties in 80 countries. Available in 15 languages, its digital guidebooks are said to be viewed by vacation rental travellers “more than two million times each month”.
Hostfully says that it is the only company in America with preferred partner status with Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo, and that it has been climate positive since 2019.
Claiming to be an industry leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, Hostfully won the 2022 Shortyz Award for Best property management system last week, and previously secured the 2019 and 2021 VRMB Keystone Awards.
