Austin-based HomeAway, the leading online vacation rental marketplace, today announced it has completed a $250 million equity capital raise. Add to this the $209 previously raised and the total amount of capital dedicated to this company is $459M. According to Venture Source, this is the largest minority investment of a U.S. Internet company in the last eight years. TechCrunch is reporting that the valuation on the deal was around $1.15B, and that $50M of the money invested went to pay off early investors.

The round was led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) and included existing investors Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and Redpoint Ventures. HomeAway says they will use the proceeds for additional strategic investments, however they seem to have already bought up all the competition. Additional acquisitions would have to be in a complementary space, or perhaps a new upstart competitor with a more viral model.

“We are very pleased to secure this major round of funding, particularly during the current financial crisis that is increasingly restricting access to capital for many companies. And we’re especially excited to join forces with TCV to help us execute our long-term growth strategy,” says Brian Sharples, chief executive officer and founder of HomeAway. “The TCV lead investment demonstrates their confidence in our business model, and the extraordinary potential in front of us. We expect to benefit tremendously from their experience and record in building leading consumer Internet and travel companies.”

Filed under: Funding