EDITOR'S COMMENT
• Today may be known as Blue Monday [described by Sky Travel as "the most depressing day of the year"], however there are plenty of reasons for positivity ahead in the short-term rental industry in 2023.
The sight of companies closing their first external funding rounds is very welcome and paves the way for more businesses offering innovative solutions and serving underserved markets to attract attention from investors. Already this year, Patriot Family Homes has raised $60m in Series B funding and Fractal Homes has secured £30m in seed funding, while the camping holiday segment remains highly profitable following Campings.com's €27m raise.
Meanwhile, a company putting their own recent funding to good use is property management platform Guesty, which has entered the payments market with its launch of native payment processing offer GuestyPay. Having raised $170m in Series E funding in August, prior to acquiring YieldPlanet, Kigo and HiRUM, Guesty is positioning itself as a one-stop shop that is custom built to solve the unique pain points facing property managers.
After a relatively subdued year for funding in 2022, we can expect startups to emerge that offer nuanced, innovative solutions in the market, particularly on the tech side where there is scope for sustained investment. Other businesses that have been waiting for the right time to raise funds and deploy capital will also announce funding rounds in the near future.
• Here are some key dates to keep in your diary over the coming week:
STRz webinars are back tomorrow 17 January] at 4pm GMT with a session on "New Year New Solutions: The rise of the rentalpreneur". Don't miss the insights of Mark Simpson [Boostly], Stacey St. John [STR Global Enterprises], Philip Kennard [Futurestay], Ryan Luke [Luke Capital Group] by signing up for this free session here.
Tickets are still on sale for our annual Recharge event, this time taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 23-24 January. Book your places here to join other urban innovators at the cutting edge of contemporary hospitality, real estate and living challenging the status quo.
The entry period for the 2023 Shortyz Awards is open and you can now submit your no-cost entries across our 20 categories at our dedicated awards platform by Monday 6 March. For our top tips on how to submit successful Shortyz entries, watch this short video.
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