Short-term rental tech platform Futurestay raises $11M

Futurestay , a vacation rental technology startup and a PhocusWire Hot25 Startup of 2020 , has raised $11 million in Series A funding.

The round was led by BNM Capital Management with participation from New York Angels and Harvard Business School Alumni Angels.

Founded in 2015, Futurestay provides technology and strategies to help independent property managers grow their businesses. The platform offers tools for dynamic pricing, distribution through Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Google Vacation Rentals, rental insurance, party prevention and community advocacy.

“The short-term rental industry is the leading creator of entrepreneurs in the world, and Futurestay’s mission is to help each one of them succeed,” says S. Philip Kennard, Futurestay co-founder and CEO.

“Amid enterprise property manager SPACs and IPOs it’s often overlooked that real people own and manage the vast majority of short-term rentals. Futurestay levels the playing field and gives every rental entrepreneur the opportunity to earn their financial freedom.”

Kennard says the company will use the funding to continue to attract top talent from the travel and hospitality industry and beyond, such as executive vice president Tim Knowling, who joined last year and had spent 10 years at Kayak. Kennard says Futurestay will also “accelerate growth and onboarding and expand our award-winning platform.”

“Futurestay has cracked the code for acquiring, onboarding and professionalizing independent managers at scale. Managers who use Futurestay see a considerably positive impact on their business almost immediately,” says Samuel Shevat, partner at BNM Capital Management. Shevat and fellow BNM partner Thomas Sparico have also joined Futurestay’s board of directors.

Futurestay has raised $15.5 million to date, with its last round coming in May 2020 .

In November, PhocusWire editor in chief Kevin May interviewed Kennard during the event PhocusWire Pulse: Startups In The Spotlight . Watch the full discussion below.