Today Rentivo, a vacation rental marketing and management software company, announced it has successfully oversubscribed its CrowdCube.com crowdfunding campaign, raising £341K/$425K and exceeding its goal by 36%. The funds will be used to accelerate technology development, sales and marketing.

With the exponential growth in the home sharing economy and millions of property listings worldwide, it has become increasingly challenging for vacation rental owners and property managers to stand out from the crowd and attract new and repeat guests," said Richard Vaughton, Rentivo co-founder and CEO.

As such, existing revenue streams and businesses are at stake. "Our crowdfunding success underscores the need for new ways for vacation rental property owners and managers to secure direct bookings and take more control over revenue generation instead of relying solely on Online Travel Agencies, such as Airbnb, HomeAway and TripAdvisor, for business."

Direct bookings also help alleviate the financial squeeze felt by property providers and guests from OTA commissions and service fees, respectively. Currently, these fees can be in excess of 20% for hosts and as high as 12% for guests, who are often completely unaware of these charges.

Rentivo, which has been serving the vacation rental market since 2013 and features a guest-centric, collaborative business model that supports the mutual interests of groups of property managers, has an estimated 300% growth rate in 2017.

The company is privately owned, self-funded, debt free and holds all IP rights. The launch of its web builder and interest from collaborative and niche listing sites have accelerated growth. Additionally, Rentivo's guest re-marketing products and payment systems will see increased traction and revenue streams in 2017.

Chris Atkinson, the CTO and co-founder says that, "Homeowners and managers are hoping to improve their bottom line and business controls, which cannot happen if OTA's solely, manage the booking flow and guest experience."