Short-term rental start-up brings home US$3m in seed funds

GuestReady, a PropTech startup in the urban short-term rental management space, has closed US$3 million in seed funding and will be acquiring Easy Rental Services, a former competitor in London and Paris.

Currently operating in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, the startup says it plans to utilise the seed funds to expand to five more cities by summer 2018.

Developing an improved product

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 venture capital 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.

Since its launch in August 2016, GuestReady has acquired a portfolio of about 600 apartments and welcomed over 20,000 travellers from over 120 countries into their apartments. Initially an on-demand platform for activities like cleaning, GuestReady now focuses exclusively on fully managed properties that they advertise on short-let platforms like Airbnb, HomeAway, and Booking, among others.

The company has been focusing on developing 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.

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