RVshare is a market leader in the peer-to-peer recreational vehicle (RV) rental marketplace.

RVshare is a marketplace that matches up trippers looking to hire an RV with owners wanting to earn something from their vehicle by letting it out. It announced Wednesday a fundraising of $100+ million led by KKR. Existing investor Tritium Partners also participated in the round. (SiliconHills)

RVshare

The startup is the first and largest platform for RV rentals. After its founding in 2013, it has clocked more than two million days worth of rentals. 

More than 100,000 RVs have registered on the platform for rental, from affordable pop-ups to luxury motor homes.

COVID-19

The virus pandemic sparked a huge and additional demand for RVs because cautious Americans wanted a holiday without the risk of contagion at a resort or hotel or from an airplane.

According to TechCrunch, which quoted from The Drive, RVshare saw a massive 650% surge in bookings during the months of April and May 2020.

RVs an underserved travel segment

Jake Heller, Co-head of KKR’s Technology Growth team in the Americas, said RVs are an important yet underserved category of travel. He said RVshare had delivered “explosive” growth with impressive capital efficiency.

Managing Director of Tritium Partners Phil Siegel said RVshare had generated “sensational” growth since its founding. RVs as a category is just getting started, he added.

“I am very proud of our employees and thankful to our customers for helping build RVshare into the market leader it is today. And we are only at the beginning of where our business can go,” said RVshare’s CEO Jon Gray.

RV sales on the up-and-up

Those statements are very bullish on the future prospects of RVshare’s business. 

Meanwhile, the surging demand for RVs applies equally to their ownership. The WSJ reported last month that RV-makers had huge backlogs of orders following the pandemic, particularly from first-time buyers.

Thor Industries Inc., a large recreational-vehicle maker, finished its latest fiscal year in July with a record-high backlog of orders, the WSJ said.

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