Israeli travel technology startup Hotelmize has raised Series B investment to expand operations in Asia Pacific (APAC) and “capture the longterm promise of the region’s tourism industry”.
The round was led by Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund and Israeli-based Brilliance Ventures, which invests in growth-stage companies with market-potential in Asia.
The amount of the funding was not disclosed. Data from Crunchbase shows the company has raised US$4.4 million from three previous rounds.
To strengthen its foothold in APAC Hotelmize is establishing its headquarters in Hong Kong, which will serve as a gateway to the region and China.
The startup, which develops AI-based price prediction and profit-optimisation technologies for the hotel booking industry, was founded in 2016 by Dor Krubiner, Omry Litvak and Guy Levitan. It employs over 20 people in its Tel Aviv headquarters and has sales offices in London, Bangkok, Buenos Aires and Mallorca.
Its technology basically monitors the fluctuations in hotel room prices, from the placing of a reservation through to the vacation date, and trades the rooms the same way that algorithms trade stock in the capital markets. Room prices change dynamically, similar to options or warrants, which also come with expiry dates.
According to the company, it has to date handled over US$2 billion of reservations and has created over US$100 million worth of transactions for its customers including some in tourism.
“The tourism industry is one of the most-competitive industries worldwide. Unlike others, travel industry players are offering highly similar products, which makes it exceptionally difficult to differentiate from their competition.,” said Dor Krubiner, Hotelmize CEO.
He added that in the years ahead “we will see travel industry players transform themselves from ‘commercial enterprises’ into ‘technology enterprises.’ The demand for advanced data-driven intelligent solutions is already growing at a rapid pace.”
Cindy Chow, executive director of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, added: “The international hotel business is a huge market, and we always look for cutting-edge technology to improve industry efficiency. As we come out from the current difficult situation under the effect of Covid-19, we believe that Hotelmize can contribute to the recovery of the hotel industry with its unique value proposition.”
• Images credit: Hotelmize
