Short-term apartment rentals service 9flats.com, based in Germany, secured an undisclosed ‘multi-million euro’ amount on Tuesday last week in a round led by T-Venture, the corporate venturing unit operated by telecommunications conglomerate 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.
The service provided by 9flats enables users to advertise their properties for short term rentals to other users, charging nightly rates while 9flats manages payment. The funding was received as 9flats signed a strategic partnership agreement with Germany-based real estate marketplace ImmobilienScout24 in which ImmobilienScout24 will consult on 9flats on marketing and digital business.
Stephan Uhrenbacher, chief executive officer of 9flats, said: "This new round of financing will enable 9flats.com to scale our service across Europe and marks an important step for the company as it grows to become a global player in the online travel sector. T-Venture not only provides 9flats with additional funds, but through the separate partnership with ImmobilienScout24, we will be able to expand our audience in a significant way."