10 Milestones for 10 Years of Hostaway

Think of all you accomplished over the past ten years. If you’re anything like the short-term rental property managers we work with on a daily basis, we imagine you’ve accomplished quite a bit. It’s thanks to people like you that we at Hostaway have the opportunity to celebrate our past ten years.

In 2015 Marcus Rader left Europe, settled in Toronto and quickly identified a gap in the market. He tagged in a former colleague named Saber Kordenstanchi to help find a solution to that gap — that solution would go on to become the number one short-term rental property management software in the world. 

There have been some ups and downs in the ten years between 2015 and 2025 — but here we are, celebrating our 10 year anniversary! So to mark the occasion, we thought we’d take a look at 10 milestones from 10 years of Hostaway. 

2015: Hostaway is founded

Airbnb is no longer a well-kept secret. In 2015 the company doubled its growth and surpassed 80 million nightly bookings. Where there is growth there is opportunity, and it was an opportunity Marcus identified ten years ago that eventually led to what we now know as Hostaway. 

Because, despite the general perception, it wasn’t just individual hosts who made their bones on Airbnb’s platform. It was property managers overseeing dozens — if not thousands — of short-term rentals who stood to benefit most from Airbnb. 

Recognizing the opportunity, Marcus, Saber and their co-founder Mikko Nurminen began drawing up the blueprints for what would become the biggest vacation rental management software in the world.

2016: The Airbnb Open in Paris

Despite what you might infer from the title, this was not an Airbnb-sponsored tennis tournament (although that would be pretty cool). The Airbnb Open in Paris was a gathering of more than 5,000 Airbnb members from around the world filled with workshops and seminars — including some led by Airbnb Founder Brian Chesky himself. 

It was at this event where the idea Marcus, Saber and Mikko were pursuing took shape. In between late nights and early mornings in a very small one-bedroom apartment, the Hostaway co-founders’ assumption that it was property managers who were driving the market was validated.

The event was unfortunately also memorable for tragic reasons, as the event took place while the Bataclan terrorist attacks took place, killing 130 people. 

2017: Product launch and early growth

With a combined €100,000 in total funding from angel investors and government grants, Hostaway launched its platform and began acquiring its first customers. Like most startups it wasn’t always pretty in the beginning — think close office quarters, long nights and lots of pizza (that last part doesn’t sound so bad). 

But the foundation of Hostaway that endures to this day started to set. An obsession over customer success, critical thinking and excellence were as crucial to the early success as it is today. As Marcus put it in a 2017 Slack message, “with just a little blood, sweat and tears we get happy customers.” 

2019: Hostaway’s Unified Inbox launches

Airbnb was no longer the only dog at the dog park by the end of the decade. Booking.com, previously niched into hotels, was focusing heavily on vacation rentals. That platform boasted more than six million non-hotel listings in 2019. At the same time Vrbo was vying to take a swing at the champ and compete with Airbnb head-on. 

Savvy property managers knowing they could achieve growth through listing on multiple platforms quickly began diversifying away from Airbnb. They also quickly learned how much of a hassle it is to manage one business via three different booking channels. Hostaway’s Unified Inbox came to the rescue by allowing property managers to manage all their guest communication from one central channel. It was a customer favorite back then and continues to be today.

2020: Covid-19 pandemic disrupts the travel industry and the entire world

After five years of existence Hostaway was growing steadily, adding new and better features and acquiring customers from all over the world. That all came to a screeching halt when the novel coronavirus was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization and governments around the world rolled out various forms of social and economic lockdowns.

Covid-19 hit the travel industry as hard as any other. As commercial and personal travel plummeted, property managers could no longer rely on tourists to fill their rooms and many had to shut down. Hostaway lost 60% of its customers and had to lay off 40% of its staff — it was one of the darkest times in company history. 

2020: The pivot that saved the company

In the midst of the panic and destitution, Marcus picked up the phone and called every single one of the property managers who worked with Hostaway. It was, as he describes it, some of the hardest and most depressing phone calls of his life. But in spite of the gloom and doom, Marcus started picking up on a particular trend from one specific corner of the world — Florida. 

Professional property managers, it turns out, remained optimistic about the industry’s recovery. Members of the tourist-crazy Florida economy had seen ups and downs before, and knew that, despite the current turmoil, the industry would rebound. This resilience and optimism helped inspire Hostaway to double-down on Floridians — a decision that would help Hostaway emerge from the crisis stronger than the competition.

2021: Market leadership and accelerated growth 

Betting on resilient property managers in Florida paid off. By 2021, travel restrictions eased and domestic travel began to increase. Hostaway started regaining and surpassing the number of pre-pandemic clients, experiencing serious revenue growth in the process.

By the end of 2022 Hostaway had more than $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and thousands of global customers. And in 2023 Hostaway became the first property management system and channel manager to be recognized as a premiere and preferred partner by Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo. It wasn’t the Belmont, the Preakness and the Kentucky Derby, but it was the STR version of The Triple Crown and Hostaway was wearing it.

2023: First to market with AI 

Just like customer obsession and excellence, product innovation is at the core of everything Hostaway does. In 2023, as the rest of the industry was still trying to get their heads around the notion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), Hostaway was first to market with a suite of AI features. 

Hostaway users could now use a ChatGPT integration to quickly write guest messages and listing descriptions. Today, Hostaway AI allows users to scale their guest communication, drive more revenue through Dynamic Pricing, comb through hundreds of reviews to pull out review insights, and speed up task management.

2023: Hostaway secures $175 million investment from PSG

By 2023 Hostaway could no longer be ignored. Product innovation, staggering revenue growth and premier partnerships with major OTAs drove Hostaway to the very top of the pack in the short-term rental space. One particular private equity company, PSG Equity, took notice and decided they wanted to be part of the Hostaway journey. In May 2023 Hostaway raised $175 million, securing the company’s place in the market and foretelling great things to come. 

Perhaps best of all, this new investment opened the door for Marcus to make his commercial acting debut. In an ode to one of his favorite TV shows, Better Call Saul, Marcus traveled to the desert and found salvation in Hostaway’s property management system. 

2024: Hostaway raises $365 million at industry-leading valuation 

Hostaway has the most paying customers of any short-term rental PMS, an unmistakable brand across the industry, and just finished launching its first-ever — and the industry’s biggest — user conference Hostchella. It also became the highest-valued company in the short-term rental space, securing a $365 million investment at a $925 million valuation. 

Beyond being a massive testament to the hard work and dedication of Marcus, Saber, Mikko and the rest of the Hostaway team, this new injection of cash will support the next chapter in Hostaway’s growth and innovation. A lot has changed since the early days of Hostaway. (But everyone here still loves pizza!)

The next 10 years of Hostaway

No one at Hostaway is taking a victory lap just yet. There are plenty of stones left to turn, global markets to capture and product excellence to innovate. The team here is bigger, stronger and more motivated than ever to serve our customers.

And while we’re proud of how far we’ve come, we know the best is yet to come. The short-term rental industry is evolving faster than ever, and Hostaway is committed to staying ahead of the curve — delivering the tools, insights and support that property managers need to thrive. As we look to the future, one thing is certain: We’re just getting started. Here’s to the next decade of growth, innovation and success — together.