Germany: Munich-based holiday rentals search engine Holidu has announced it has closed a €40 million Series C funding round.
The round was led by Prime Ventures, with participation from coparion and MairDuMont Ventures. Existing investors, including EQT Ventures, Venture Stars, Senovo and business angel Chris Hitchen, also took part in the deal, which is reported to be the highest-ever investment for a private accommodation search engine.
Holidu, which compares the prices over 15 million rental properties across 600 websites [including Airbnb, Booking.com and HomeAway], now has more than ten million unique visitors each year and is active in 21 different country markets. It says the funding will be used for its own product development, enhancing its existing software platform Bookiply, and expand its reach into more global markets including opening “multiple” regional offices, according to Phocuswire.
It previously raised €5m in a Series A funding round in 2016 and an undisclosed amount in Series B funding in 2018.
The company was founded in 2014 by siblings Johannes and Michael Siebers after describing a frustrating experience attempting to book a vacation rental for a surfing holiday in Portugal.
Holidu chief technology officer and co-founder, Michael Siebers, told Phocuswire: “We believe in the power of technology and data and that by connecting these two, almost any problem can be solved. The vacation rental market is still ten years behind other digital markets, so the opportunity is huge.”
Holidu developed its Bookiply service for holiday property owners to have a single interface to list their properties on the leading travel accommodation websites. The tools include calendar synchronisation, multilingual descriptions and the sourcing of professional photography.
Furthermore, the company last year announced its expansion plans with the purchase of Spanish rival Hundredrooms, which finds holiday homes, apartments and cottages in the most-searched destinations worldwide.
For more information, visit the Holidu website here.
