HostGPO will use the $6M to rapidly expand its market leadership position serving over 250,000 units and key industry supply relationships
In addition to Navitas and OMNIA Partners, notable investors in the round include Spencer Rascoff (75&Sunny), Brian Lee, and PAR Capital Ventures.
HostGPO, Inc., a group purchasing organization and marketplace for vacation rental hosts to efficiently and cost effectively procure furniture, supplies, and other services to run their properties, has closed a $6M round, its first outside capital to date. Navitas Capital, a leading Los Angeles based venture investor focused on early-stage, built-world technology startups, led the round alongside OMNIA Partners, the largest group purchasing organization in public and private sector procurement. Together, Navitas and OMNIA will help HostGPO accelerate its market leading position by bringing expertise across technology development, real estate marketplaces, procurement know-how, and supply relationships. Also investing in the round is 75&Sunny, the venture firm founded by Spencer Rascoff (Founder, 75 & Sunny Ventures, and co-founder of Zillow and Pacaso), Brian Lee (Co-Founder of LegalZoom & The Honest Company), and PAR Capital Ventures.
“Our mission has always been to support folks in growing their vacation rental businesses while elevating the quality of homes that they are able to offer” said Jeff Iloulian, Chief Executive Officer of HostGPO. “As a previous vacation rental operator, buying furniture and supplies was extremely challenging for me. With our investment partners behind us, we feel that HostGPO can continue creating an unbeatable platform that will make operating a rental easier and continue to unify a fragmented industry.”
Lead investor Navitas Capital believes that HostGPO will become an entrenched technology layer in the real estate and hospitality industries.
“In the rapidly growing vacation home and short term rental markets, HostGPO provides a critical piece of missing digital infrastructure.,” said Travis Putnam, Managing Partner at Navitas Capital. “Jeff has done a tremendous job building HostGPO into the early market leader, bringing the greatest breadth of supply partners and digital purchasing tools to its more than 250,000 customer homes. As HostGPO continues to scale, Jeff will offer even more value to his rapidly growing customer base, making HostGPO an entrenched technology layer in the real estate industry.”
HostGPO will also greatly benefit from the vast industry knowledge and relationships possessed by incumbent group purchasing organization, OMNIA Partners. With second to none industry relationships and decades of experience negotiating contracts with suppliers on behalf of a fragmented industry of buyers, OMNIA sees HostGPO as the clear market leader in an exciting new category.
“We’ve been extremely impressed with HostGPO’s growth to date and strong execution. As a large emerging category that can benefit from a GPO business model, and a clear market leading position, the future is bright for Jeff and his team”, said Todd Abner, Co-Founder and CEO, OMNIA Partners.
Bringing Spencer Rascoff and Brian Lee into the round, two LA native entrepreneurs with deep technology roots, emphasizes the magnitude of HostGPO Founder Jeff Iloulian’s vision to build the industry’s next big marketplace.
“I’m very excited to be an investor in HostGPO. While the vacation rental industry has seen exponential growth since Airbnb revolutionized the market 15 years ago, B2B solutions have not kept pace. HostGPO has emerged as a leader in the space, building the rails to streamline the procurement of goods and services for short-term rental property owners and operators across the industry.” said Spencer Rascoff, Founder of 75 & Sunny Ventures, and co-founder of Pacaso and Zillow.
About HostGPO
HostGPO is a members-only marketplace and group purchasing organization (GPO) for the vacation rental, short term rental, and hospitality industries. HostGPO provides operators a digital platform to procure goods and services at significant discounts, as well as digital tools to streamline the procurement and design process. HostGPO works closely with a curated group of suppliers (i.e. furniture, appliances, home goods companies, etc.) to aggregate demand and bring them customers within its target segments.
Source:PRNewswire/ Techwithat
