Nakul Sharma: Hostmaker

Nakul Sharma, 33
Company: Hostmaker
Web: www.hostmaker.com

With the huge success of Airbnb has come the need for hospitality management services to help time-poor hosts deal with the admin and hassle of letting out their properties.

Nakul Sharma and his wife knew only too well how much hard work goes into short-term property rental after they decided to become hosts themselves and decided the market was ripe for a service that gave other hosts a helping hand – and so Hostmaker was born.

Started in 2014, Startups 100 2017’s number 11 company Hostmaker provides a range of services including housekeeping from five-star hotel trained staff, professional photography, daily pricing reviews, guest relations and vetting, and interior design. It also offers profile and listing set-up across six platforms including Airbnb, TripAdvisor and Booking.com.

While a number of challengers have entered the space, Hostmaker’s focus on happier guests, more five-star reviews, more bookings and therefore more rental income has helped it secure more than 1,000 clients across Europe in four of the biggest global markets for Airbnb: London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona.

Already growing at a rate of 400% year-on-year, the company brought its total funding to £7.5m in February 2017 with the close of a £5m Series A funding round. These funds are being used to bolster its existing presence and support expansion in a further 25 cities.

Headed up by Sharma – an entrepreneur who has held positions at some of the world’s largest international hotel chains – the company now employs more than 150 staff, who between them have more than 60 years’ experience in the hospitality sector.

Boasting 52,400 five-star reviews for its clients, Hostmaker is rapidly becoming the service of choice for Airbnb hosts. Watch this space…