The venture capital arm of internet search giant Google has stuck a toe into the online holiday home rental market with an investment in HomeAway.

      Google Ventures made the investment through the purchase of shares from existing shareholders in the company, which is the parent of HomeAway Holiday Rentals, and OwnersDirect in the UK.

      HomeAway is the world’s largest online holiday rentals company, operating sites in 11 European countries plus the market-leading sites in the US and Brazil. Currently representing over 540,000 paid holiday rental listings in more than 120 countries worldwide, HomeAway’s turnover grew by 45 per cent to $120m last year.

      Google Ventures is to on further technological development, including website optimisation and simplifying the booking process, as well as exploring expansion opportunities in Asia and Australia.

      HomeAway CEO Brian Sharlpes said, “HomeAway is now at a stage where we want to concentrate our resources on optimising the usability of our websites and setting new standards in the holiday rentals industry.”

      Last month, Google ventures made its first investment in the biotech space, with US antibody specialist Adimab. The firm was formed in March 2009 to invest a portion of Google’s substantial war chest in fields including consumer internet, software, cleantech, biotech and healthcare.

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