9flats, a Germany-based short term lettings website backed by T-Venture, has purchased Canada-based rentals portal iStopOver, for an undisclosed sum.
The Berlin-based company finalised the purchase on Monday, after previous launches across Europe and Asia. 9flats will also double its support team as a result of the partnership with iStopOver customer services.
9flats.com secured an undisclosed ‘multi-million euro’ amount in January led by T-Venture, the corporate venturing unit operated by telecommunication group Deutsche Telekom. Also participating in the round were venture capital firms Redpoint Ventures and eVenture Capital Partners, both existing investors. Redpoint previously led a round in May 2011 which brought 9flats’ total financing to $10m while eVenture contributed seed funding in January that year. 9flats is also backed by venture firms Greycroft Partners and PROfounders Capital, according to news provider Fortune.
Previous investors in iStopOver include Relay Ventures, which manages the Blackberry Partners Fund, which is backed by corporate investors Thomson Reuters and Research In Motion. Relay’s venture affiliate JLA Ventures invested in the company alongside venture firm GrowthWorks’ Commercialization Fund in iStopOver’s up to $3m A round in 2010, when the company bought Canada-based rival PlanetEye. The company wa also backed by asset manager Matrix Asset Management and venture firm Brightspark Holdings, according to Fortune.
In June 2011, iStopOver acquired the assets and global inventory of vacation rentals site Vacapedia in a part cash, part stock deal with the total amount undisclosed.
Mondays purchase will allow 9flats to open its first North American centre in Toronto, enabling the company, which offers affordable accommodation solutions, to expand across the Atlantic.
Stephan Uhrenbacher, founder and chief executive of 9flats, said: “North America […] is the most important market for 9flats outside of Europe.”