Airbnb management platform banks another $10 million for acquisition ambitions

An eight-year-old Sydney-based Airbnb property management platform has raised $10 million as it looks to grow through a merger and acquisition startegy.

Hometime, founded in 2016 in Perth, previously raised around $12.7 million in debt and equity in 2019 from the likes of NAB Ventures, One Ventures, and AS1 Capital. The latest cash injection comes from Sydney-based Fifth Estate Asset Management, which has also backed Future Super.

Back then the startup had acquired two rival short-term-rental platforms, Host My Home in Cairns and bnbpal in Melbourne, and it’s now looking for more opportunities on that front in a market already awash with suppliers. It also acquired Sydney-based Hey Tom in 2018.

The company now looks after around 1500 properties in 29 locations across all Australian states, as well as Darwin, with a strong cluster on the the east coast between Sydney and Queensland’s Sunshine coast. It’s been responsible for more than $100 million worth of bookings, and also manages its own properties, with around 600 properties on its own platform, as well as collaborating with Airbnb hosts.

Hometime manages everything from cleaning to booking inquiries, property maintenance and marketing.

Airbnb property services typically charge between 15% and 20% of the booking cost. The introduction of the US tech platform has been a boon for local small businesses, with multiple property hosting management platforms emerging in recent years, including Kings Coin, City Sleepz and Houst as well as MadeComfy, which also raised $10 million a year ago having been founded in Sydney 12 months before Hometime. Coincidentally, it raised $6 million in May 2018 in a round led by Investec, while Hometime raised $6 million a debt and equity deal with One Ventures in June 2019.

The company kicked off with a $1.5 million raise in 2017 from Martin Dalgleish’s Asia Prinicipal Capital.

Fifth Estate founder Dane Roberts and Upswell Ventures general partner Craig Burton are joining the Hometime board in the wake of the latest round.