Smoobu
“Can a lightweight, host-friendly PMS become the operating layer for the long tail of independent vacation rental hosts globally?”
Founded2014
HQBerlin, Germany
Latest roundAcquired by HomeToGo (2021)
IndustryVertical SaaS / Vacation Rentals
The story
Smoobu started in 2014 as a channel manager built by a vacation rental host frustrated by lack of tools for small operators. It expanded into a full PMS with booking engine, guest communication, website builder and dynamic pricing. Acquired by HomeToGo in 2021, it now serves as the SMB-facing PMS in the HomeToGo portfolio, layering in AI-assisted messaging, embedded payments (via Stripe Connect and PayPal), and smart-device orchestration via Seam.
Product timeline
2014
Smoobu founded in Berlin by vacation rental hosts as a channel manager for small hosts.· founding
2018
API integration with Booking.com.· integration
2019
API integration with Airbnb.· integration
2021
Acquired by HomeToGo to accelerate growth.· acquisition
2024
10-year anniversary; serving hosts in 120+ countries.· milestone
2026
Launched Smart Devices feature (powered by Seam), AI-suggested guest reply messages, and E-Invoicing.· product
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Smoobu’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Accounting gap: significant