HomeAway’s Director of PR, Eileen Buesing , the startup— which has already raised $470 million in five years— sold stock from current shareholders to Google Ventures.

Beyond the financial investment, HomeAway’s CEO Brian Sharples told us the partnership was also attractive because of Google’s deep resources and its management style.  “[Google Ventures] facilitates access to different parts of the company that have engineering or talent resources that may be helpful. For example, Google has a lot of technology that could help us make search more faster and more relevant. There’s a lot of interesting things we can learn,” he says.

Given Homeaway’s trajectory, Google may get its own cash out very soon.

As we previously reported, the company is potentially eying a 2011 IPO. After its last major round of funding (a $250 million round led by Technology Crossover Ventures in late 2008) the startup was valued at approximately $1.4 billion.

That number is expected to be larger now, given the ongoing growth in revenues and its large portfolio of sites. Although Sharples could not comment on a possible IPO date, he says it is a “likely outcome at some point.” According to Sharples, revenues grew roughly 35-40% last year and growth remains robust in 2010, “we’re having another good year,” he says.

The company has made more than a dozen acquisitions under its belt with two recent additions in October alone— vacation rental software firms Escapia and Instant Software.

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Authors: Evelyn Rusli

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