Proptech Hometime nabs former Airbnb exec for C-suite

A former Airbnb executive responsible for the short-stay rental platform’s early success in Australia and New Zealand has signed on as chief operations officer (COO) at local property management scaleup Hometime. 

Aiau Yong was most recently APAC GM at logistics payment platform PayCargo, and previously spent nearly six years as Airbnb ANZ supply lead, recruiting and onboarding hosts.

Hometime manages everything from cleaning to booking inquiries, property maintenance and marketing for properties and now has Australia’s largest collection of professionally managed holiday homes, including a large number of Airbnb properties. 

It was founded in 2016 in Perth, and recently raised $10 million for its acquisition ambitions having gobbled up several domestic rivals, including  Sydney-based Hey Tom Host My Home in Cairns and bnbpal in Melbourne.

In the newly created COO role, Yong will oversee the company’s 40-strong local host network and its acquisition deals. 

CEO and cofounder, Billy Crock said the signing is a huge coup for Hometime.

“We couldn’t be more delighted to welcome Alvan into the Hometime family. The feeling for us has always been mutual and to bring his depth of local market experience into our business is a pivotal moment that is fresh off the back of our successful $10 million cap raise earlier this year,” he said.

“It also signals the completion of building our executive leadership team, which over the last 18 months has seen us add seats in marketing, finance and HR. Hometime is on a market-leading growth trajectory and Alvan’s hire bolsters our efforts significantly.” 

Yong said joining Hometime feels like a homecoming and he’s been a longtime fan of cofounders Dave Thompson and Billy Crock.

“When I first met Billy and Dave in 2018 at the Airbnb Sydney office, I remember saying to one of my colleagues that ‘Hometime would make a great investment’,” he said.

“They figured out how to scale the most operationally intensive part of short-term rental through technology, process and expertise. It was more impressive that they could maintain amazing quality across their properties – evidenced by great guest reviews across multiple platforms.

“So when the opportunity came up to be part of Hometime, the decision was easy.”