Funding for short-term rental startups cooling but more resilient than other verticals

Funding to the STR space is cooling dramatically in line with the rest of the travel industry, but has stayed more resilient in comparison to other travel categories. An analysis of Phocuswright's Travel Startups Interactive Database reveals that when comparing 2022 through 3Q23 to the past 10 years, the STR category has clearly been one of the strongest verticals across both time periods (see above). That said, while there are typically multiple $100 million-dollar-plus funding rounds that occur in the short-term rental space in a given year, 2023 only featured one, when property management company Hostmaker raised $175 million in private equity in May.

Economic uncertainty is increasingly a reason for cautiousness, in addition to the restrictive factors outlined in this report. Yet 2023 was another record year for Airbnb on the wave of persistent demand, indicating a resilient market for what is still an emergent product with plenty of room for growth. In the coming years, STRs will continue to attract investment, reach new audiences, implement new technologies, and provide an increasingly high-quality guest experience on par with hotels on the path to mainstream travel adoption.

Get more insights from Phocuswright's travel research report Global Short-Term Rentals 2023-2027 .

Our multi-client sponsored research projects bring businesses together to answer timely, topic-specific questions about the travel, tourism and hospitality industry.

Phocuswright works with your company to help set the research agenda, giving you access to unpublished and customized data.

The upcoming U.S. Short-Term Rentals Special Project will focus on research objectives in both B2B and B2C areas, exploring consumer preferences and perceptions, drivers of satisfaction, key trends, market sizing, growth patterns, tech adoption, inventory and more.

Project sponsors get a wealth of benefits beyond the data and thought-leadership.

Research is our priority. Our Open Access research subscription puts the world’s most comprehensive library of travel research and data visualization at your fingertips.

Clients have relied on Phocuswright's deep industry knowledge for over 25 years to power great decisions, help justify a pitch, build a strategic plan and elevate any presentation through trusted research and data. When companies and executives reference Phocuswright, they gain the trust of an industry keen on data, trends and analytics.