US: Minnesota-based vacation rental property management solution provider TravelNet Solutions has made its first major acquisition since securing investment earlier this year by buying revenue management partner Rented for undisclosed terms.
In July, TravelNet Solutions received funding, believed to be at least $200 million, from Blue Star Innovation Partners, a fund affiliated with the owner of American football team Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones. The investment capital fund bought a majority stake in the company, whose platform includes Track Hospitality Software, Atlas Digital Commerce and resortsandlodges.com in its offering.
Meanwhile, Rented, which was founded ten years ago, had raised around $2 million in a previous seed round. Its founder and CEO, Andrew McConnell, will stay on beyond the acquisition to aid product development.
In a message to customers, TravelNet Solutions CEO Ryan Bailey said that Rented’s Automated Rate Tool [Art] was a “powerful and flexible” pricing tool, adding that the technology would “enhance Track’s functionality and value while giving our Track customers unprecedented control and insights related to pricing”.
Speaking on the Good Morning Hospitality podcast with hosts Wil Slickers [Amplified Audio], Michael Goldin [Storied] and Brandy Canaley [Sextant Stays], Bailey said that TravelNet Solutions was looking to fill overall gaps to build a single platform through strategic mergers and acquisitions, particularly in pricing and revenue management as demand softens and supply grows post-Covid.
He also confirmed that July’s raise would help TravelNet Solutions build up its product and engineering teams and accelerate its bid to go public in the coming years, while appearing to suggest that acquisitions of competitors could be a possibility in the future.
