Camplify, a Sydney, Australia-based peer-to-peer RV rental platform,
is acquiring Germany-based PaulCamper for is A$47.6 million.
Camplify is also raising A$8.5 million to fund growth
efforts including expansion of its insurance business.
Camplify operates in Australia, the United Kingdom, New
Zealand and Spain. The acquisition adds operations in Germany – which it says
is Europe’s largest RV market – as well as in Austria and the Netherlands,
doubling the size of Camplify’s business as measured by customers, fleet size,
bookings and gross profit.
“This acquisition delivers Camplify a strategic and targeted
growth opportunity in Europe, securing the largest key market, Germany. It
provides Camplify with an excellent team of digital marketplace professionals
based in Europe, allowing us as a group to optimize and look for expansion
opportunities,” says Justin Hales, Camplify founder and CEO.
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“I am extremely impressed by the PaulCamper operation and
excited by the ability these transactions provide us to build our business and accelerate
our pathway toward cashflow positive position and profitability with significant
ability to grow revenue through vertically integrated products”
As part of the acquisition, Camplify gains PaulCamper’s
insurance broker division, which it says will “be a key growth engine for the
business moving forward.”
PaulCamper founder and CEO Dirk Fehse will stay on as head
of Camplify’s European operations.
“The PaulCamper team, shareholders and myself are excited
about this new opportunity to work alongside Camplify,” Fehse says.
“In 2019 Justin and myself met and discussed our shared
vision and desire to create a community of RV owners globally who have the passion
to share their RVs. As a business who has secured key markets in Europe, PaulCamper
is pleased to take this next step and be a part of a global public company on
the journey with Camplify.”
Founded in 2013, PaulCamper has a fleet of more than 12,500
RVs in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The company’s last funding was a Series A
round of €7 million in 2019.
Peer-to-peer RV marketplaces around the globe have seen
substantial growth in bookings and investor interest since the start of the pandemic.
U.S.-based Outdoorsy,
RVshare and Harvest Hosts have all reported booking rates higher than pre-pandemic levels.