Activity in the alternative accommodation space is picking up pace with GuestReady, a short-term rental management service, receiving a new round of funding.
The relatively young industry is already beginning to see consolidation as GuestReady also announced its acquisition of Easy Rental Services. It will soon consolidate both brands under the GuestReady brand.
The new funds will be used to expand its business to new markets. While currently operating in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, GuestReady hopes to reach five more cities by mid next year.
Beyond geographical expansion, GuestReady is also planning a move further into the B2B space by building a product backend to automate and streamline property management tasks.
The funding round was led by Impulse VC, with participation from Xponova and Boost Heroes, the VC firm led by Fabio Cannavale, founder of the Lastminute Group, among others. Existing investors including Swiss Founders Fund and Senn & Partners also renewed their investments.
GuestReady had previously raised US$700k in an angel round in November 2016 from Swiss Founders Fund, Senn & Partners, and Georg Bauser of Airbnb fame. GuestReady is part of the prestigious Founders Programme of Station F, the world’s largest startup incubator, in Paris.
GuestReady, which pitches itself as “the leading Airbnb management company globally”, is not fazed by a potentially more regulated home-sharing environment in Asia.
“We believe that with our societies and the way we live becoming ever more mobile, governments will see the need for change and adapt regulatory frameworks to be more favourable for home sharing and shorter stays,” said Alexander Limpert, GuestReady’s co-founder and CEO, in an interview with WIT.
Alexander Limpert, GuestReady
Limpert said Asia has been slower to catch on to the home-sharing culture, but he has confidence that will start to change.
“In Asia, even more so that Europe, a home is something very private that is usually only shared with family members, so home sharing might be something traditionally less common. However, we see perceptions of younger generations changing and they are embracing home sharing more,” said Limpert.
The company’s main focus over the past year, besides bolstering its presence across its markets, has been to develop a product that provides the property owners full visibility and control over the calendars and financials of their properties. It syncs real time with sales-side platforms like Airbnb, and provides a lean logistical setup that allows it to minimise the turnaround time between guests. GuestReady takes a percentage of the earnings from the apartments as a management fee, or guarantees a specific income per month based on a predictive model developed by GuestReady.
