Holidu has announced the acquisition of Cybevasion. Cybevasion operates the French vacation rental portals gites.fr and chambres-hotes.fr. Through this acquisition, the Munich-based company aims to strengthen its presence in France – Europe’s largest vacation rental market.
More occupancy & international visibility
Cybevasion was founded in 1998 by Jean-Louis Desouche in Saint-Étienne. According to its own information, the platform lists over 35,000 vacation accommodations and attracts around 20 million users annually. With the integration of these offerings, one of France’s largest vacation rental networks is created. Johannes Siebers, CEO and co-founder of Holidu, comments on the current expansion of the Holidu family:
“France is already one of Holidu’s fastest-growing markets. By bringing together Cybevasion’s established brands with our technology and local service teams, we’re giving thousands of French hosts faster access to higher occupancy and international visibility while simultaneously optimizing the booking experience for guests.”
As part of the acquisition, Jean-Louis Desouche will take on the role of Directeur Général at Holidu. He sees great opportunities in the integration:
“I’ve been looking for a way to modernize our system and better meet the expectations of today’s travelers, especially when it comes to instant bookings and quick response times. With Holidu’s presence across Europe, I’ve found an innovative and intuitive partner that consistently thinks customer-first.”
For Holidu, this is already the eighth acquisition in the company’s history. Through this strategy, the company combines organic growth with targeted acquisitions and the integration of local teams.
Growth capital for AI and internationalization
In addition to the acquisition, Holidu announces the completion of a funding round totaling 46 million euros. Capital providers include Key1 Capital, Vintage Investment Partners, and Prime Ventures. Existing investors also participated again.
The company, founded in 2014 by brothers Johannes and Michael Siebers in Munich, plans to invest the new capital in further developing its AI technologies, expanding its own property management software (PMS), and expansion into additional markets.
Since the last funding round in October 2022, the number of locations has increased to 28. According to the company, the accommodations managed through its own PMS have risen to nearly 50,000, and the revenues generated have more than tripled.
“With our first AI agent for guests, we were able to reduce simple support requests by 70 percent and more complex ones by 30 percent, while simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction and booking rates,”
explains Michael Siebers, CTO and co-founder of Holidu.
“We continue to invest in AI-driven processes without losing sight of human contact where it truly matters. Thanks to automation, we deliver better service at lower costs and unlock new scaling possibilities.”
Hosts benefit from the new structure by gaining access to the full range of Holidu’s PMS – including direct online bookings, automated payments, pricing recommendations, and a website configurator. Local teams in France provide on-site personal support.
