Leading Airbnb Property Management Company, Hometime, announces $6M funding round with OneVentures, in inaugural venture debt deal
Australia and New Zealand’s leading Airbnb property management service company, Hometime, announces the closure of a venture debt funding round with OneVentures, through its 1V Venture Credit Fund today.
The total round size stands at an impressive $6M, comprising both Venture Debt and equity. The deal is the first from the new OneVentures Fund, which is a partnership between Australian firm OneVentures and Viola, Israel’s leading technology-focused Venture Credit fund and a major European market player.
The deal highlights the recent arrival of venture debt as an alternative funding option for Australian startups. Such deals are more common in the US and Europe where venture debt is used to extend runway between larger funding rounds and reduces dilution for existing shareholders.
The funding round provides sufficient capital for Hometime to continue it’s impressive growth trajectory whilst preparing for a larger Series A round in early 2020. In 2018, Hometime grew by 450%, and it continues to be the pre-eminent provider of professional host services in the Australasian market, being the first Airbnb professional co-host in Australia and one of a few internationally.
William Crock, Co-Founder of Hometime says:
“We believe that venture debt is an appropriate structure for a company such as ours, that is generating substantial revenue but needs additional working and acquisition capital in order to execute our aggressive growth plans. We were impressed by OneVentures’ extensive investor group and their willingness to partner with us as we continue to scale, and are delighted to be their inaugural fund investment.
The additional capital will be used to drive market expansion both domestically and internationally, and will power further development of our host platform, which enable us to deliver an exceptional local and personalised hosting experiences on a global scale.”
Dr. Michelle Deaker, Managing Partner of OneVentures adds:
“We are delighted that our inaugural investment in the Fund is Hometime. Dave and William have built an impressive high-growth and customer focused business that is a strong use case for venture debt where the funds will be used for sales and market expansion. We anticipate a strong partnership with Hometime, to assist them in their growth into new Australasian markets, and beyond”.
Contact
Orlaith Farrell, The PR Group
E: orlaith@prgroup.com.au
M: 0433 811 685
About Hometime
Hometime, is a Sydney-based property management company for the short-term rental market exclusively using Airbnb. Launched in 2016 by founders Dave Thompson and William Crock, Hometime created a property management platform that assists hosts to “put their Airbnb properties on autopilot” by handling each aspect of the hosting experience, all whilst delivering superior returns. At Hometime, your preferences are always respected, whether it’s about your property, guests or availability. It’s Airbnb management services are available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, and Auckland, with more areas planned for the near future. For more information, visit: www.hometime.io
About OneVentures’ 1V Venture Credit Fund
The 1V Venture Credit Fund (the Fund) launched in August 2018, raising up to AU$100M in funds available for high-growth technology companies. In April 2019, the Fund reached first close at AU$45M.
The Fund is focused on rapidly growing companies that are differentiated through technological innovation, with strong revenue growth. In particular, OneVentures is looking for companies operating in the SaaS, fintech, marketplace and e-commerce spaces, who are led by exceptional founding teams and generating >$3-5m in revenue.
Venture credit is attractive to companies seeking a less dilutive financing option, or companies looking to incorporate venture credit within the funding mix of their capital raising round. It provides a longer capital runway, allowing companies more time to achieve important milestones before a subsequent round of financing. In the same way as our equity investments, the OneVentures team will continue to provide insight, network and strategic knowledge to the investee company.
The Fund is seeking technology companies with a strong product market fit, investing $500k to $5m per company and making approximately 40 investments.
