Triptease raises $9m Series B funding

The firm provides a platform to hotels seeking to increase direct bookings. Continue reading →

Travel Software as a Service start-up Triptease has raised $9 million in Series B funding.

The firm provides a platform to hotels seeking to increase direct bookings.

It aims to use the money raised to continue international expansion into Asia by opening an office in Singapore.

The company will also double headcount in at offices in London and New York.

The funding round was led by new investor BGF Ventures, with participation from existing investors Notion Capital and Episode 1 Ventures.

Triptease claims a drive for direct bookings is the single biggest priority of the hotel industry, with commissions paid to OTAs often reaching 20% or more.

The firm’s direct booking platform integrates with a hotel’s website and booking engine. Tracking millions of consumer booking journeys across thousands of hotel websites, Triptease brings conversion optimisation to each individual hotel website.

The result is a smoother booking process and a claimed 20% more people booking direct on a hotel website.

Founder Charlie Osmond said: “We want to shift the world to direct bookings. A direct relationship with customers reduces a hotel’s spend on middleman commissions whilst allowing them to offer cutting-edge services like mobile check-in alongside ancillary upsells.

“Savvy consumers have also started to realise hotels prefer guests who book direct. Room upgrades and special incentives have become commonplace benefits for booking direct.”

Triptease is working with more than 17,000 hotels, including major groups and independent hoteliers across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific.

Its platform delivers more than $1 billion worth of direct booking revenue to hotels, while the company’s own revenue has grown by 1,000% over the last six quarters.

Rory Stirling, partner at BGF Ventures, said: “We are very excited to be joining Triptease as a new investor at a time when the company is showing great growth in the markets where it has established a presence. Now it’s time to expand the software to Asian hotels, to make this a truly global product.

“With consolidation amongst online travel agencies, hotels are increasingly looking for options to help them mobilise people to their own websites and Triptease is the best in its sector.”

Chris Tottman, partner at Notion Capital, said: “The Triptease platform is extremely robust at delivering direct bookings for hotels today, but this investment also will allow Triptease to accelerate improvements to the product.

“New products and features will make hotels who use Triptease increasingly more competitive and data rich.”