9Flats buys iStopOver, targets home turf of Airbnb

August 7, 2012 By 2 Comments

Consolidation in the world of private rental marketplaces as European startup 9Flats acquires North America specialist iStopOver.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the agreement puts 9Flats in the heart of the Airbnb‘s stronghold of the US and Canada as 9Flats targets consumers and homeowners in San Francisco, Chicago, Vancouver and New York.

9Flats says it is working on merging the two platforms in the coming weeks but for the time being iStopOver site currently says “powered by 9Flats”.

iStopOver says it has properties in more than 16,000 cities around the globe, adding to the 55,000 products on the 9Flats service.

The Toronto-based iStopOver has itself had a busy few years – it merged with fellow Canadian startup Planet Eye in August 2010 and grabbing $3 million in funding from JLA Ventures and GrowthWorks Commercialization Fund.

In June 2011 the company acquired the assets and global inventory of Vacapedia in a cash and stock deal, also for an undisclosed fee.

At the time of the deal, Vacapedia added some 65,000 rooms to iStopOver’s portfolio, a massive boost to the product range as it pushed the total number to 80,000 worldwide.

A 9Flats official says:

“With the iStopOver customer services team joining us, we’ve doubled our support team. This means iStopOver guests and hosts can still count on the same excellent support they’re used to from the iStopOver team, while 9flats customers can now enjoy longer opening hours.”

Related posts:

  1. 9Flats apartment rental platform brings total funding to $10M
  2. Love Home Swap targets high-end owners with home swap service for travelers
  3. iStopOver to offer Daily Deals — on booking fees
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Kevin May About Kevin May

Kevin May is editor of Tnooz. He joined as a co-founder in August 2009 after spending nearly four years as editor of UK-based business publication Travolution.

Passionate about the business of travel and the internet, Kevin played a major role in establishing Travolution in print, online, events and with an annual awards programme, as well as becoming a regular speaker and moderator at industry events.

Prior to Travolution, Kevin was web editor at Media Week (UK) and also worked in regional newspapers for two years at the Essex Enquirer. He started his career in journalism at the Police Gazette at New Scotland Yard in London.

Trackbacks

  1. Your responses: what the world said about our iStopOver news | Blog 9flats says:
    August 13, 2012 at 10:53 am

    [...] in The Next Web, Tnooz and El Economista and [...]

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  2. Great response to iStopOver joining 9flats family | Blog 9flats says:
    August 13, 2012 at 10:57 am

    [...] in The Next Web, Tnooz and El Economista and [...]

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