Israel: Tel Aviv-based property management platform Guesty has announced that it has raised $50 million in Series D funding, and acquired fellow property management software Your Porter.
The round was led by the Apax Digital Fund with participation from the AMI Opportunities Fund, both advised by Apax Partners, and existing investors Viola Growth, Flashpoint, Vertex Ventures, Kingfisher Investment Advisors and La Maison Partners.
It brings the company’s total funding to date to $110 million, cementing its position as the highest-funded property management software fuelling the alternative accommodation ecosystem, a competitive market in which small and large hospitality brands are increasingly relying on robust tech solutions to professionalise their operations in order to grow and scale.
Amiad Soto, co-founder and CEO of Guesty, said: “We are entering an exciting chapter in our company’s life cycle with short-term rentals having gone mainstream as a direct result of the pandemic, now catering to an increased user base that expects the comfort and privacy of a home coupled with hotel-like amenities. US 2021 summer reservation volume alone is currently 282 per cent higher compared to last year and 32 per cent higher compared to pre-Covid, 2019 volume.
“These numbers highlight a bright future ahead, and Guesty is looking forward to being there every step of the way to support our customers and an industry that has shown resilience during an unimaginable year in which many had to quickly pivot and adjust their business models to stay afloat. We are coming out on the other side stronger, together as a community that believes in the evolution of travel,” he added.
News of the round follows Guesty’s announcement earlier this month that it had acquired fellow property management software and Y Combinator alum, MyVR, to expand the company’s existing footprint in North America and bring more standardisation to the space.
At the same time, the company has also announced that it has acquired property management software Your Porter.
Both acquisitions will continue Guesty’s goal of powering hosting businesses of all sizes – ranging from small, family-run operations to enterprise-sized hospitality brands.
Guesty will use the investment and growing team to power a year of hyper-growth in key markets, enhance its product capabilities to serve diverse customer segments, onboard top-notch talent and ultimately, be a pillar of support for the entrepreneurs who have built businesses off the democratisation of hospitality.
The company will also continue to build out its marketplace of third-party integration partners – from digital concierges to remote staff management systems to keyless entry solutions – in order to aid customers in providing “contact-free” guest experiences, all from within the Guesty dashboard.
Daniel O’Keefe, managing partner at Apax Digital, will also join Guesty’s board of directors.
O’Keefe said: “We are incredibly excited to partner with the team at Guesty to help accelerate their mission to bring sophisticated property management solutions to a rapidly shifting global ecosystem.”
Dave Evans, principal at Apax Digital, said: “Guesty is a stand-out player in a rapidly growing market. Having just acquired MyVR and Your Porter, and given the company’s differentiated product offering, Guesty is now the logical platform to consolidate the market, working with hosting businesses of all sizes.”
With the understanding that travel would recover, Guesty kept busy over the last year, enhancing the platform’s functionalities to support more property types, including multi-unit listings and aparthotels. The company also focused on addressing consumer behavioural patterns that emerged as a result of the pandemic by opening up the platform to support extended stays of one month or longer.
Since graduating from Y Combinator in 2014, Guesty has continued to build a flexible, smart software in a fragmented market, providing customers in over 80 countries with an end-to-end solution in which they can manage their portfolio of properties across a variety of online travel platforms.
Looking ahead, the company will continue to push collaboration and innovation in a dynamic ecosystem that is poised for success.
