Holiday Rental Startup HeyHolidays Raises $1 Mn Funding From Hampton Capital

Bengaluru-based holiday rental platform HeyHolidays has raised $1 Mn in funding from Hampton Capital.

The funds will be used for expanding company’s global footprint with an increase in demand shown by its Indian outbound travellers.

HeyHolidays will focus on increasing its Indian base to cater to growing demand of international travellers visiting India by adding unique listings in holiday destinations, religious locations and heritage places.

HeyHolidays has more than two lakh listings across India, Southeast Asia, Europe, United States etc.

The Virtual Front Desk handles individual and group requests to help select and negotiate accommodations with its hosts as well as plans that special trip, holiday or honeymoon.

Kenny Blatt, co-founder of HeyHolidays, said, “India was our first choice for the market’s sheer potential. For the past year, we listened to what our guests were asking for and helped better curate our hosts’ offerings. We are currently operational in the major cities of India (over 100 destinations) and across 100+ countries.”

HeyHolidays launched in India in late 2016 by Kenny Blatt, Stan Dong and Nitesh Shetty. It uses the idea of sharing economy to offer short-term accommodations from urban cities to resort destinations to its customers.

In January 2018, HeyBnb renamed itself to HeyHolidays to “expand its scope of business and better serve its guests as well as hosts”.

Other players in this space include global players like AirBnb and India players like Nestaway, Homigo, Zocalo, Fella Homes etc. These portals offer well-furnished apartments or villas for students or working professionals to ease their home-search troubles

As per HeyHolidays founders, the Indian travel market is set to grow over the next decade, especially the outbound travel, which is estimated to reach 50 Mn tourists by 2020.

With the latest round of funding and already set global and Indian presence in holiday rental market, it is to be seen what HeyHolidays brings next for its users.