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← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Rentals United

“Can channel-management infrastructure become the payment and distribution backbone of the entire vacation-rental ecosystem?”

Founded2015
HQStockholm, Sweden (HQ Rentals United AB); Barcelona, Spain (operations)
FoundersJames Burrows
Total raised$4.2M+ (pre-acquisition)
Latest roundAcquired by Guesty
Valuationundisclosed
IndustryVertical SaaS / Vacation Rentals
The story

Founded 2015 in Stockholm as a vacation rental channel manager that syncs listings across 90+ OTAs (Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo). Grew into distribution infrastructure for 400k+ properties globally. Acquired by Guesty (leading vacation rental PMS) and now operates as a Guesty subsidiary — combining Guesty's PMS with Rentals United's distribution layer. Embedded finance footprint is deliberately narrow: Stripe is offered as the payment rail to enable Merchant-of-Record status for property managers, but Rentals United does not hold funds, issue cards, or provide banking.

Last 12 months
2025
Product timeline
2015
Founded by three competing vacation rental agency owners to build a shared channel-management platform· founding
2019
Scaled to 100 employees, connected to 60+ listing sites and 100+ technology providers· growth
2021
Adopted Payhawk for internal spend management; processed 1M reservations for clients· operations
2024
Acquired by Guesty; became subsidiary within Guesty group· acquisition
2025
Launched Stripe for White Label — embedded Stripe Connect flow for PMS partners· payments
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Rentals United’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
StripeStripe Connect
FX & payouts
in the full report
Spend / AP
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
2 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.

Rentals United — frequently asked

Who is Rentals United's payment processor?

Rentals United processes payments through Stripe and Stripe Connect.

Who handles Rentals United's FX and cross-border payouts?

Rentals United uses Stripe for FX and cross-border payouts.

What is Rentals United's embedded finance stack?

The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Rentals United's stack: Payments / PSP (Stripe and Stripe Connect); FX & payouts (Stripe); Spend / AP (Payhawk).

Who founded Rentals United?

Rentals United was founded by James Burrows and is founded in 2015, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden (HQ Rentals United AB); Barcelona, Spain (operations).

How much funding has Rentals United raised?

Rentals United has raised $4.2M+ (pre-acquisition) in total (latest round: Acquired by Guesty; valuation: undisclosed).

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