Love Home Swap, the home swap holiday service, has raised a further GBP1.025m follow-on funding from lead investor MMC Ventures.
Love Home Swap has also launched a new Swap Points scheme, a world-first within the social travel sector.
With the new Swap Points scheme, arranging trips becomes easier through the Love Home Swap site as members no longer need to match exact dates and destinations with each other. They can now pledge time in their property to a central bank. In exchange they receive points that they can redeem to stay in other members’ homes around the world for free – without the cost of hotel bills to worry about.
Love Home Swap now has more than 45,000 properties listed in 150 countries worldwide, and has made strong progress over the first half of this year. Listings have increased 5x and revenues 3.5x, driven by rapid organic growth and the acquisition of a leading competitor site, 1stHomeExchange.
The additional funding will be used to invest in marketing, product development and new hires, particularly in the areas of sales and customer service, as the business aims to double the number of members it has over the coming 12 months.
Debbie Wosskow, chief executive of Love Home Swap, says: “We’re excited to close this latest round of funding to help us continue to scale the Love Home Swap business. The home swapping model is potentially the future of time-shares, a sector with a long history that is looking to modernize fast and reach out to future generations. With our new Swap Points scheme, Love Home Swap continues to innovate within the travel industry. Our plan is to keep delivering what we do best: ensuring that our members enjoy dream holidays in inspiring homes around the world whilst saving thousands on hotel bills.”
Rory Stirling, investment director of MMC Ventures, says: “MMC has always believed in Love Home Swap and is pleased to be able to provide follow on funding for this high profile digital business. The move towards the modernisation of time shares is a smart one and reflects the foresight of the strong management team.”
