HomeAway,Inc.is an online vacation rental marketplace.HomeAway connects homeowners and property managers who advertise(or list)their properties available for rent with travelers who choose these alternative accommodations instead of hotels.

HomeAway was funded by venture capital firms Austin Ventures,Institutional Venture Partners,Redpoint Ventures,Technology Crossover Ventures and Trident Capital.The company is headquartered in Austin,Texas with additional offices in Colorado,Virginia,New York,England,Germany,Brazil and France.

HomeAway,Inc was founded in February 2005.The company initially acquired several sites and consolidated them into a single vacation marketplace,launching HomeAway.com in June 2006.Travelers can search HomeAway.com to find a vacation rental for free and homeowners can pay to advertise their property.

HomeAway moved into its new global headquarters in Austin,Texas on October 2,2009;the first mixed-use project and the second company in Austin to achieve LEED Gold certification for Commercial Interior Design.

On November 18,2009,Us Weekly announced that HomeAway would reunite actors Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo in a new short film and advertising campaign based on National Lampoon’s Vacation.The HomeAway ad represents the company’s first national advertising campaign that debuted during the CBS television network broadcast of Super Bowl XLIV on February 7,2010.

Financing
HomeAway announced in November 2006 its$160 million in financing to fund global expansion initiatives,including the acquisition of VRBO.com(Vacation Rentals by Owner).On November 11,2008,HomeAway announced it had completed an additional$250 million equity capital raise.The investment was led by Technology Crossover Ventures(TCV)and with existing investors Institutional Venture Partners(IVP)and Redpoint Ventures.In 2010 the Wall Street Journal named HomeAway one of the top 10 venture funded companies.

Competitive environment
On March 5,2011,QuickHome announced its entrance into the vacation rental and home exchange marketplace,three years ago,on August 19,2008,Orbitz entered into the vacation rental marketplace too.The following day after the Orbitz announcement,Expedia’s TripAdvisor Web site took a majority stake in FlipKey,a website that features vacation rental properties and verified guest reviews.

Craigslist also lists vacation rental properties.Other lodging alternatives to hotels include Homelink.org and HomeExchange.com that offer home swaps,BeWelcome,Couchsurfing,Hospitality Club,Airbnb,9flats,Travelmob,Uproost,and Wimdu.com which offer rooms or space in homes to travelers,Hosteling International which offers dorm-style accommodations.