Habyt Raises $42 Million for Home and Hotel Rental Platform: Startup Funding Roundup

Twelve travel tech startups announced more than $147 million in fundraises in the past two weeks.

>>Habyt, an apartment and short-term rental manager and booking platform, has raised $42.4 million (€40 million) in series C funding.

This round is led by Korelya Capital and Deutsche Invest, with support from Exor Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, P101, ITALIA500-Azimut, HV Capital, Vorwerk Ventures, Norwest, Kinnevik, Burda Principal Investments, and Inveready.

Berlin-based Habyt said its platform offers rentals in co-living spaces, homes, and hotels for locals and travelers, particularly digital nomads. 

The company has now raised nearly $74 million, according to Crunchbase. Since its series B in 2021, Habyt has expanded to North America and Asia via acquisitions of Common Living and Hmlet.

Habyt has grown from 5,000 units in 18 cities last year to 30,000 units in more than 50 cities on three continents. 

The company earlier this year opened its first hotel in Europe, The Waterfront in Berlin.

Habyt said revenue increased 40% in 2023 compared to the prior year and that it is profitable in “most key geographies.” The company plans to reach profitability by early 2024.

The startup plans to add London and other cities in the coming year. The funding will also go toward improving the tech platform. 

>>Numa Group, a short-term rental manager with a booking platform for guests, has raised $59 million in series C funding.

Verlinvest led the round, with support from Cape Capital, Headline, Cherry Ventures, DN Capital, and Soravia.

The company has now raised more than $200 million, according to Crunchbase. 

Berlin-based Numa Group manages short-term rental properties — including hotels, serviced apartments, hostels, and more — in partnership with owners. 

The company said its software automates certain hotel operations, like pricing, booking, check-in and check-out, and customer service via WhatsApp. 

Its portfolio includes more than 4,500 rooms and apartments in 28 major European cities. The funding will go toward expanding the portfolio in Europe. 

>>TravelLocal, a startup that helps travelers book personalized vacations, has raised $10.3 million in series B funding. 

The round was led by Puma Private Equity, with support from Active Partners and Gresham House Ventures. Channel 4 Ventures recently increased a media-for-equity investment, and Alistair Daly is an individual investor.

The UK-based startup said its platform allows travelers to connect directly with local guides to help plan tailored trips. Its network includes 500 local experts who work for 271 travel companies around the world. 

The company said it has already completed more than $50 million in bookings this year, more than doubling last year’s business.  

The funding will go toward accelerating international growth, improving the platform, and marketing.

>>Safely, which provides insurance to vacation rental owners and managers, has raised $8 million. It was led by Highgate Technology Ventures with participation from LAGO Innovation Fund.

The company said it has now raised $16 million. 

Atlanta-based Safely said its insurance covers injuries as well as damage to the property and its contents. The company also provides a tool for guest background checks. The software connects with more than 30 property management systems.

“Our mission at Safely is to protect homeowners when they rent their homes on Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com because they can only make money if they let internet strangers sleep in their beds and use their stuff,” said Andrew Bate, founder and CEO at Safely, in a statement.

“We spent much of this year building our own insurance platform as a Lloyd’s of London Coverholder, which gives us access to 80-plus countries and some amazing underwriters. And we process all of our claims in-house and now pay 90% of claims in three business days.”

The company is now focused on expansion, including in Europe.

>>Líbere Hospitality Group, a short-term rental property manager with a booking platform, has reportedly raised $6.4 million (€6 million), funded internally by the founding team and employees. 

Spain-based LHG said it has a portfolio of 37 properties, 15 of them in operation, totaling more than 1,200 units in Spain and southern Europe. 

It recently opened Líbere Barcelona Sant Antoni and B48 Abando in Bilbao, with plans to open properties in Madrid, Ciudad Real, and Lisbon

The funding will go toward expanding in Europe and hiring. 

The company also said its three brands — Líbere, B48, and Naitly — will be consolidated under the LHG name. 

The company said it plans to end 2024 with more than 1,300 units in operation. It plans to close 2023 with €15 million in bookings and expects to break even next year. It expects to multiply revenue by six times in the next three years. 

>>Umob, an app for renting multiple modes of transportation, has raised $6.4 million (€6 million).

The Netherlands-based company said its app allows people to book public transport and rideshare services, as well as rent scooters, e-bikes, and cars.

The company said it partners with municipalities and companies to make booking available through a single app. 

>>Dharma, which plans and sells trips hosted by celebrities and brands, has raised $4.7 million in an oversubscribed pre-series A round of funding.

It was led by Convivialite Ventures, with support from Liontree and Stephen Ross, the owner of FJ Labs, Equinox, and Soul Cycle. Other investors included Shorooq Partners, Matt Higgins of Shark Tank, former soccer player Eric Cantona, and Goodwater

The startup said it has now raised $10 million.  

United Arab Emirates-based Dharma recently launched a multi-day tour experience based on Netflix’s popular series “Emily in Paris.” Other tours it offers include a football derby with Eric Cantona, climbing the highest peak in North Africa with Equinox, and learning vedic meditation with Light Wakins.

Disclosure: Skift CEO Rafat Ali also participated in this funding round.

>>MeetingPackage, a platform for venue and group hotel bookings, has raised $4.6 million in series A funding led by Scale Capital.

The Finland-based startup said its platform helps hotels and event venues more easily sell, operate, and manage meetings and events spaces. Hotels and third-party sellers can integrate the company’s software tools into their websites. 

The funding will go toward growing business in Europe and moving into North America. The company said it is already profitable and cash-flow positive.

>>Cyviation, which manages cybersecurity for airlines, has raised $4 million. 

The Israel-based company said its platform includes remote assessment tools that can detect and manage intrusions, evaluate and map aircraft vulnerabilities, recommend mitigations, and more. 

The company recently said its solution is ready for commercial sales and it is engaging with commercial airlines, manufacturers, and regulatory agencies. One client includes Polaris Aviation Solutions, the startup said. 

The company expects to raise a series A round of funding next year. 

“It’s not a question of if, but when an aircraft will fall prey to a cyber-attack. We must consistently remain ahead of attackers, anticipating and neutralizing threats before they manifest,” said Arik Arad, Cyviation’s board chair, in a statement. 

>>Globick, a platform meant to connect tours and experiences operators with third-party sellers, has raised $1.5 million.

The Barcelona-based company said its business-to-business platform connects online travel agencies, destination management companies, and other resellers with the systems that tour operators use to manage business. The connection gives resellers access to stock availability, meant to prevent overselling and other errors. 

The startup has more than 35 customers in 12 countries. Clients include Trip.com, Hellotickets, and HIS Group. 

The company said it has coordinated 16 times the transactions in 2023 as compared to the previous year. 

The funds will go toward business expansion initiatives, including building out the team that works on integrating the tech with third-party systems that tour operators use to manage business. 

>>Blacklane, a chauffeur app, has raised a “significant million euro sum” from car rental company Sixt in the second closing of a series F round of funding. The investment makes Sixt an “important shareholder,” Blacklane said.

The first round of the series F raised included investments from Mercedes-Benz Mobility and Gargash Enterprises.

The Berlin-based Blacklane platform allows users to book chauffeur services between cities and to and from the airport. 

The company plans to expand into the U.S. and other international markets in 2024. The funding will also go toward supporting sustainability efforts and hiring.

The company aims that electric vehicles will be used for 15% of its rides by the end of 2023, and 50% of rides by 2025.

>>Sensible Weather, a startup that insures travel and events affected by inclement weather, has raised an undisclosed  round of funding led by Amex Ventures, with support from Wonder Ventures, Infinity Ventures, and Industry Ventures.

“In contrast to the traditional travel protection model, Sensible automatically reimburses consumers who purchase a Weather Guarantee if a pre-set threshold of forecasted weather is met. Before disruptive weather occurs, Sensible proactively notifies consumers that a reimbursement is available, and the consumer can still take part in their planned travel or activity,” the company said in a statement. 

The Los Angeles-based startup said its product is sold through thousands of partner websites to American and European travelers. 

Company	Stage	Lead	Raise
Habyt	Series C	Korelya Capital and Deutsche Invest	$42.4 million
Numa Group	Series C	Verlinvest	$59 million
TravelLocal	Series B	Puma Private Equity	$10.3 million
Safely	Unspecified	Highgate Technology Ventures	$8 million
Líbere Hospitality Group	Unspecified	Internal raise	$6.4 million
Umob	Unspecified	Unspecified	$6.4 million
Dharma	Pre-series A	Convivialite Ventures	$4.7 million
MeetingPackage	Series A	Scale Capital	$4.6 million
Cyviation	Unspecified	Unspecified	$4 million
Globick	Unspecified	Unspecified	$1.5 million
Blacklane	Series F	Sixt	Undisclosed
Sensible Weather	Unspecified	Amex Ventures	Undisclosed

Skift Cheat Sheet

Seed capital is money used to start a business, often led by angel investors and friends or family.

Series A financing is typically drawn from venture capitalists. The round aims to help a startup’s founders make sure that their product is something that customers truly want to buy.

Series B financing is mainly about venture capitalist firms helping a company grow faster. These fundraising rounds can assist in recruiting skilled workers and developing cost-effective marketing.

Series C financing is ordinarily about helping a company expand, such as through acquisitions. In addition to VCs, hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity firms often participate.

Series D, E, and, beyond These mainly mature businesses and the funding round may help a company prepare to go public or be acquired. A variety of types of private investors might participate.