On the heels of buying its biggest competitor, vacation rental startup Vacasa has raised $319 million, valuing the company north of $1 billion.
The strategic round was led by Silicon Valley private equity firm Silver Lake, and brings Vacasa’s total funding to more than $500 million, the company announced Tuesday. Prior investors Riverwood Capital, Level Equity and NewsSpring also participated in the round.
In an increasingly crowded field of short-term rental companies, Vacasa currently manages 23,000 homes on behalf of properties. The Portland, Oregon-based company was founded in 2009 and handles bookings, housekeeping and customer service for homeowners. Vacasa charges between 20 percent and 40 percent commission per rental.
A Vacasa rental in California (Credit: Vacasa)
Last week, Vacasa purchased Wyndham Vacation Rentals, with 9,000 properties, for $156 million in cash and $10 million in equity.
Vacasa said the latest funding will be used to enhance its tech platform, accelerate an expansion to new markets and develop new offerings. Last year, the company launched Vacasa Real Estate, a network of sales agents that broker vacation home deals. Vacasa currently has about 240 agents and partners with 2,000 more, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The opportunity that lies ahead of us is enormous, on both the property management and real estate side of the business,” CEO Eric Breon said in a statement. “We’re seeing an increased number of buyers looking to purchase vacation homes as an investment, with the intent to rent the property. We’re uniquely positioned to assist our homeowners through the entire lifecycle of their vacation home.”
Although Vacasa didn’t disclose its annual revenue, the statement indicated its earnings have grown by a multiple of seven over the last four years. The company currently employs 5,000. “It is exceptionally rare to see this type of growth, and rarer still at this scale,” Ben Levin, founder of Level Equity, said in a statement.
The financing comes amid an uptick in interest in the short-term rental sector. Over the past year, Lyric raised $80 million and Sonder raised $210 million. Marriott also plans to launch a home rental business.
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