Holiday Crowd, a holiday property investment service, has raised a total of GBP290,000 in seed funding from a group of angel investors.
The amount will be used to further develop the online platform and to launch new properties for investment in some of the UK’s booming tourist hotspots.
Launched in March of this year, Holiday Crowd provides an online platform for investment in the fast-growing holiday rental market. Recent research by Holiday Crowd has highlighted the resilience of the market in the UK, with average booking values increasing well above the rate of inflation.
Holiday Crowd enables investors to build a portfolio of shares in holiday rental properties in amounts upwards of GBP1,000 so they can benefit from the financial rewards of ownership, including a share in any rental income and potential capital appreciation linked to the underlying property. Investors also benefit from discounted bookings offering a smarter way to save on their holidays.
The company recently announced an exclusive partnership with Sykes Cottages, the UK’s largest independent holiday lettings agency, to provide their properties with a high level of bookings and professional customer service. The partnership also gives Holiday Crowd access to a customer base of more than two million holidaymakers and data on over 8,000 properties in the UK and Ireland.
The investor group includes Clive Sykes, founder and chairman of Sykes Cottages, and Apadmi Ventures, the venture arm of Apadmi Limited, who act as a technology partner for the business. The company also welcomes the addition of Rick Parry, former Liverpool Football Club CEO and founder of the Premier League, and prominent Manchester-based property investor, Mark Oakes, to the team as senior advisors to the board.
Sykes says: “Investment in holiday property has traditionally been limited to those with significant resources at their disposal. Holiday Crowd changes this, opening up the market to new investors and using the latest technology to make the whole process more efficient. I’m a proud backer of this innovative company and look forward to seeing it grow in the coming months and years.”
Parry says: “Given the current headwinds in the residential buy to let market, we expect investors will be attracted to the resilience of holiday property as an asset class. A falling pound and increasing tourism to the UK are also contributing to the success of the holiday lettings market providing an excellent opportunity for investors.”
Alistair Malins, CEO of Holiday Crowd, says: “This investment puts us in a fantastic position to accelerate our growth by investing in the platform and building a portfolio of hand-picked properties for investment. We have ambitious plans for this large and fast-growing market and are looking forward to a successful year ahead of us.”
