Emerald Stay, a proptech that acquires and grows vacation rentals, announced raising 127% of its €500,000 target with 18 days left in its Seedrs campaign, according to Crowdfund Insider.
The Switzerland-based company was founded in 2017 and has operated premium vacation rentals since 2018. Emerald Stay says its service, which it calls “Smart Ownership,” improves guest experience and optimizes operations, including cleaning and dynamic pricing on 3rd party rental channels.
The company’s monetization strategy comes down to cashing in on the margin of operating homes, saying that they earn the difference between the pre-integration margin of the business they acquire and post-integration market. Emerald Stay also noted a targeted 40 to 70% increase in these margins due to optimization in operation automation, distribution and head office synergies.
The fundraise campaign, which included participation from 154 investors at the time of release, is intended to increase the company’s acquisition efforts.
Emerald Stay noted that “Through each acquisition of €1 million, we aim to add between €8m and €10m to our group valuation. Over the past 6 months, we’ve built a pipeline of 81 qualified targets and engaged 21.”
It also said that it aims to target the 140,000 rental operators globally, which oftentimes have great contracts with homeowners but lack resources to operate optimally. It also confirmed it is now executing its first four acquisitions.
The company has already seen success since its founding, recently earning the 2021 award for “Best Leisure Property Manager,” according to the campaign notes. Emerald Stay also noted that it has been cash profitable since November 2021 and has seen monthly revenue increase 240% in December 2021 and 600% in January 2022.
In other recent proptech news, Roostify announced a partnership with ICE Mortgage Technologies to deliver a hybrid e-close option on its platform and boost its e-closings. LoanDepot is also restructuring to create a new digital products and services unit named mello.