London’s number one Airbnb management service receives backing from Sansiri and Gaw Capital
Hostmaker, London’s number one Airbnb management company, has announced $15M in Series B funding, taking the total raised since inception in 2014 to $25M. The new funding round is led by Sansiri, one of Thailand’s largest premium real estate developers and Gaw Capital – Hong Kong based global hospitality real estate investor. Hostmaker’s existing lead investors – DN Capital , Ventech and DSGCP, all backed the venture with an investment in the round.
Founded in 2014 by Airbnb ‘Superhost’ and entrepreneur Nakul Sharma, Hostmaker is a technology-driven hospitality management company that takes the hassle out of managing short-term rentals for homeowners. It offers a consistent, high-quality service, including housekeeping from five-star hotel trained staff, professional photography, daily pricing reviews to maximise earnings, guest relations and vetting, and interior design. It also facilitates property profile and listing across platforms including Airbnb, TripAdvisor and Booking.com.
As the largest VC-backed homestay hospitality management team in Europe, Hostmaker has so far carried out over 150,000 services across Europe, growing at a rate of 400 per cent year-on-year. It currently operates in London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona – four of the largest global markets for Airbnb.
The new funding round comes close on the heels of a Series A round of £5M that was raised just earlier this year. This new round of 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.
On the investment, Nakul Sharma, Hostmaker founder and CEO, said:
“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. 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, from lead investor Sansiri said:
“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.”
About Hostmaker
Launched in July 2014, Hostmaker is a technology-driven hospitality management company that takes the hassle out of managing short-term rentals for homeowners by offering a consistent, high-quality service. Growing at a rate of 400% YOY, Hostmaker is currently operational in London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona – four of the largest global markets for Airbnb and supports over 1,000 homeowners.
The founder, Nakul Sharma has worked at the world’s largest international hotel chains, including Starwood Hotels and InterContinental Hotels Group. Nakul is also an avid Airbnb host and traveller.
Hostmaker’s deep industry and market expertise alongside proprietary pricing technology, in-house interior design and 5-star hotel trained operations team help uplift income for homeowners by as much as 50%. Hostmaker has been named #20 among the top 100 UK start-ups and one of Forbes’ 5 fastest-growing British businesses to watch, alongside winning the Serviced Apartment Award for best short-term rental operator in 2017.
