Israel / US: Property management software platform Guesty has raised $130 million in a Series F funding round.
The round was led by global investment firm KKR, with participation from existing investors Apax, BDT & MSD Partners and Sixth Street. Venture capital firm Inovia Capital also joined the round to support Guesty’s expansion and sustained growth.
KKR is making the investment in Guesty primarily through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III, a fund dedicated to growth equity investment opportunities in the technology space.
Guesty plans to use the funding to continue developing its best-in-class enterprise-level platform for property managers and drive market consolidation to grow the company’s global footprint.
Stephen Shanley, partner at KKR and head of tech growth in Europe; Lauriane Requena, principal at KKR Tech Growth, and Dennis Kavelman, Inovia Capital partner, will join Guesty’s board of directors following the investment.
Operating in over 80 countries, Guesty’s platform provides both enterprise and SMB property managers as well as individual hosts with the necessary tools to manage the entire rental journey, solving some of their biggest pain points. The company’s software platform is designed to help property managers advertise and manage their vacation or short-term rental properties, delivering unrivalled guest experiences through a highly intuitive user experience and open API capabilities.
In 2020, Guesty announced it would also expand into boutique hotel and aparthotel management. Its core capabilities include a centralised reservation system, channel manager, revenue management tools, guest communication tools, and financial reporting and analytics.
Guesty will utilise the funding to expand across the United States. Jonah Mandel will join the company as VP of sales to lead the expansion, and Guesty will also invest in catering to the European market, focusing on France, Germany, and Spain, while reinforcing its presence in Australia with customer tailored developments.
Stephen Shanley, partner and head of Europe tech growth at KKR, said: “Guesty is a best-in-class operator and one of the clear leaders in the property management sector. There has been a significant shift towards the short- term rental market and this investment will support the company as it continues to meet that growing customer need.”
Lauriane Requena, principal with KKR tech growth, said: “Guesty’s product is unique in its ability to offer the tools customers require throughout the management process, giving them an incredible platform to continue to expand. We’re pleased to have invested in the business to support this next phase of growth, as they look to the significant opportunity to grow the business internationally.”
Inovia partner Dennis Kavelman said: “We have been thoroughly impressed with Guesty’s track record in consolidating the STR segment. We are excited to further invest in this category as its importance in the travel sector continues to grow, and we are confident in Guesty’s position as one of the clear software leaders in this area.”
Amiad Soto, co-founder and CEO of Guesty, said: “Guesty has enjoyed astonishing five-fold growth during the last three years. We’re delighted that this has been recognised by top-tier investors KKR and Inovia, and we’re excited to have them onboard alongside our other investors as we enter our next growth period.
“The surge in those seeking short-term rentals continues and our platform remains at the vanguard of the industry. As we embark on creating the industry’s first intelligent property management platform, we’ll continue to develop its functionality and AI capabilities to deliver first-to-market features and best-in-class support for our customers,” he added.
Guesty last announced a major raise in August 2022 when it secured $170 million in a Series E funding round led by Apax Digital Funds, MSD Partners and Sixth Street Growth. The latest round takes Guesty’s total funding to date to $410 million since its establishment in 2013.
The company has also acquired a number of businesses and competitors, including localised solutions technology provider StaySense, hotel-focused revenue and channel manager, YieldPlanet; hotel-focused, Queensland-based HiRUM; and property management software companies Kigo, MyVR and Your Porter. Further consolidation through mergers and acquisitions [M&A] and for growth across more geographies is expected, with a particular focus on the United States, France, Spain and Germany.
In recent weeks, Guesty laid off an unspecified number of team members, although Soto said that the company was at “exactly the same total number of people”, adding that “a change of focus and priorities has shifted resources to other projects”.
When asked about Guesty’s prospects for an initial public offering [IPO] in the future, Soto confirmed that Guesty was setting a target for an IPO and it would “progress when the market conditions are right”.
