20. Hostmaker

Founder: Nakul Sharma
Founded: December 2013 (Launched July 2014)
Website: www.hostmaker.co

In 2012, Nakul Sharma and his wife Deepti became hooked on Airbnb during trips to Rome, Rio and Jaipur – charmed by the hospitality of their hosts and their engagement with the local community. They decided to give hosting a go and bought their own home in London. It didn’t take long before they realised what hard work it was…

Spotting some market potential, Sharma launched Hostmaker, a hospitality management company offering two types of service: ‘hands-off homes’ and pay-as-you-go. The former deals with everything on behalf of the host including flat design photography, writing the listing, pricing, reservations, guest communication, housekeeping, linen rental, check-in and maintenance, with the company taking a percentage of the monthly revenues. The later allows guests to book services online when needed, such as housekeeping, linen and check-ins. Hostmaker currently supports more than 500 hosts across Europe, with 150 homes using its complete management solution in London and 80 across Rome, Paris and Barcelona.

The 50-strong business is currently working towards a Series A funding round following an initial £250,000 raise last year, which led to a second £1.5m funding round. On the back of this, Hostmaker plans to expand to more cities around the world. Since launch, rival companies such as Startups 100-featured airsorted have been established, but with Airbnb available in 34,000 cities around the world, the company has a huge potential market to take advantage of.