HomeToGo

HomeToGo operates as a comprehensive marketplace for vacation rentals, founded in 2014 by Patrick Andrae, Wolfgang Heigl, and Nils Regge in Berlin, Germany. The founders brought together a blend of relevant experience; Andrae had a background as a consultant and in business development at companies like Rocket Internet, Heigl was an entrepreneur who had previously founded the flight search engine Swoodoo, and Regge was a serial entrepreneur who had established the vacation rental company Casamundo. Their shared goal was to simplify the fragmented process of finding and booking vacation rentals by creating a single, aggregated platform.

The company's primary business is a business-to-consumer (B2C) marketplace that aggregates millions of vacation rental listings from over 60,000 partners, including major players like Booking.com and Vrbo. This allows travelers to search and compare a vast inventory of properties through its websites and mobile apps, which are available in over 25 countries. HomeToGo's revenue is generated through a commission-based model, earning fees on confirmed bookings. The company has increasingly focused on an "onsite booking" model, where the entire transaction is completed on the HomeToGo platform, which allows for a higher take rate compared to a simple referral.

In addition to its B2C marketplace, HomeToGo has expanded into the business-to-business (B2B) sector with HomeToGo_PRO. This segment provides software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions and other services to property managers and vacation rental providers, creating a recurring revenue stream through subscriptions. A significant milestone was reached in September 2021, when HomeToGo went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Lakestar SPAC I, valuing the company at €1.2 billion. This strategic move provided approximately €250 million in capital to fuel further growth and acquisitions. The company has a history of strategic acquisitions to expand its market presence and technology, including Tripping.com, Casamundo, Wimdu, Smoobu, and a majority stake in Interhome, a European vacation rental management company.

Keywords: vacation rental marketplace, holiday home aggregator, travel technology, online travel agency, SaaS for property managers, short-term rentals, booking platform, accommodation search engine, metasearch engine, public company, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Patrick Andrae, Wolfgang Heigl, Nils Regge, HomeToGo_PRO, Smoobu, Interhome, travel booking, European travel market, vacation rental software