"The reason we're so excited about it is Bob was the Vice Chairman and CFO of Priceline.com," says Evolve CEO Brian Egan. "Priceline.com by a factor of five is the largst online travel company ever built. They are the absolute 800-pound gorilla of online travel. There's nothing even close."
"All the things you look for in an investor -- besides money -- Bob was at the top of the list for everything," he adds.
Egan says the company will use the funding to expand its listings of vacation rentals (currently the company has more than 1,000) as well as hire new employees. The staff now numbers 30, up from 20 in January. Egan projects Evolve to have 45 employees by the end of 2013.
"We're also going to invest in a lot of technology," says Egan, pointing to a need for both front-end user experience and back-end guts. "It's about how we get all of the data in the right place," he says of the latter. "It's very data driven."
Egan launched the previously angel-funded startup in 2011 after a stint with Exclusive Resorts. He aims to bring the $40 billion vacation-home market online along the lines of air and hotel booking.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Eric Peterson with tips and leads for future stories at eric@confluence-denver.com.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.