Vacasa is an international vacation rental property management company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. It provides property management services for over 8,000 vacation rentals in the U.S., Europe, Central and South America, and South Africa. Vacasa manages properties in 20 U.S. states and 15 countries.
The company has been recognized for its rate-setting algorithms and unconventional personnel selection. Its chief strategy officer once asked a round of marketing applicants to design sales flyers, rather than résumés, detailing why they would be the best candidates for the job.
Eric Breon is Vacasa's co-founder and current CEO. Along with attorney Cliff Johnson, Breon started the company in 2009 after experiencing difficulties managing his own vacation home in Longview, Washington. Johnson abruptly departed Vacasa in Q1 2018, and in an emotional parting letter urged current employees to improve Vacasa's positive impact in local communities while keeping their relationships with each other "in a good place". He now serves as VP of Sales at competing vacation rental company Rented.com.
Video Vacasa
Recognition
In June 2014, Vacasa topped the Portland Business Journal's list of Fastest-Growing Private 100 companies, with an established three-year growth rate of 3,034.59%. In August 2014, it was named the #9 fastest-growing privately held company in the nation by Inc. Magazine in its annual Inc. 5000 list, with an updated three-year growth rate of 16,192%. On November 16, 2016 Vacasa was ranked number 67 out of 500 on the 2016 Technology Fast 500 by Deloitte, which recognizes the fastest-growing technology companies in North America.
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Lawsuit
In August of 2017 an Oregon resident and vacation home owner filed a lawsuit against Vacasa requesting class-action status and seeking $3 million in estimated damages on behalf of herself and others. The complaint alleges that Vacasa misrepresented its commission and fee structure "by charging renters additional amounts for their nightly use of properties, but not sharing any of such amounts with home owners, including, but not limited to: the 'booking fee,' 'hot tub fee,' 'pet fee' and 'early check in/late check-out fees.'" CEO Eric Breon argued that the often-criticized fees are necessary to cover the services Vacasa provides and, as such, no owner is entitled to any portion of them.
Funding
On April 12, 2016, Vacasa announced securing $35 million in financing led by Series A investor Level Equity. On November 14, 2016 Vacasa announced extending the Series A round to $40 million following a $5 million investment from risk management provider Assurant. This is the first round of outside capital the company accepted, as it was bootstrapped since its founding in 2009.
On October 17, 2017, Vacasa raised $103.5 million in Series B funding. To date, this is the largest funding round ever raised in the vacation rental management sector, and the largest series B funding round ever raised for an Oregon technology company.
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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