Homhero appoints Pete Smith to board as growth nears

Homhero has appointed Pete Smith to its Board of Directors, bringing one of the platform's earliest clients onto the board.

Smith co-founded Weekenda and later led its growth from about 80 properties to 240 before its sale to Alloggio. He also worked with Homhero's founding team in the platform's early stages, helping shape the product around the needs of short-term rental property managers.

The appointment comes as the Gold Coast-based software company approaches its 10th year in the market and passes USD $3 billion in bookings processed across more than 2 million reservations. Homhero now serves 168 property management companies managing 13,558 active listings across Australia and New Zealand.

In the past 12 months, the business processed 283,332 confirmed bookings worth USD $653 million in gross booking value across nearly 1.5 million room nights. The figures reflect Homhero's scale in a segment where operators often rely on software to manage distribution, pricing, guest communication, cleaning schedules and owner accounting.

Early role

Smith's connection to the company predates its formal launch. While running Weekenda, a short-term rental operator, he worked directly with founders Hayden D'Arcy and Anne Greyling during Homhero's development.

"The master plan for Homhero was developed on my kitchen table with Hayden D'Arcy and Anne Greyling," Smith said.

"We basically sought to build the tool that property managers actually needed. One built from the ground up, by operators, for operators," he said.

His appointment adds direct operating experience in the short-term rental market to the board, along with a long history with the company's customer base. Homhero said that perspective would bring the voice of property managers into board-level discussions.

Weekenda was one of the software's earliest users and expanded while using the platform. Smith said the business was able to grow without adding the same level of overhead that often comes with taking on more properties.

"The fact that Weekenda ran as such a lean and efficient organisation was something that Alloggio found very attractive," Smith said.

"Homhero was the engine that drove that efficiency," he said.

Industry profile

Beyond Weekenda, Smith has long been a prominent figure in Australia's short-term rental sector. He received the ASTRA Lifetime Achiever Award in 2024 in recognition of his contribution to the industry and his efforts to encourage collaboration among operators.

Interim Chief Executive Officer Craig McIntosh said Smith's background made him a natural fit for the board.

"Pete has been part of the Homhero story longer than anyone," McIntosh said. "He helped Homhero define the product, built a highly successful business on it, and went on to a successful exit. Having Pete's operator perspective and extensive industry contacts at board level is exactly the right move."

Homhero positions itself as a software provider focused solely on professional property management businesses rather than individual hosts. Its platform combines distribution to booking channels with pricing tools, guest communication, owner portals, cleaning schedules and integrated trust accounting in a single system.

That model reflects the segment Homhero has pursued since its launch in 2016. Rather than target the wider holiday rental market, it has focused on professional managers handling multiple properties and dealing with owners, cleaners, guests and financial reporting at scale.

Smith said joining the board extends a relationship that has lasted almost a decade.

"Homhero is at an inflection point right now," he said. "Being able to bring a user's perspective directly to the board is highly appealing, and it allows me to continue to give back to the industry and the customer base I care about."