The Swiss-German tech startup RoomPriceGenie has brought on board additional investors to speed up the international roll-out of their innovative pricing automation solution.
Founded in 2017, RoomPriceGenie’s mission is to bring automated, dynamic pricing technology to hospitality businesses globally. The company is helping their clients – hotels, apartment businesses, motels and more – to significantly increase revenues by automating pricing decisions.
In the past 12 months, the company has tripled their revenues showing strong traction and growth. “The solution we provide is starting to be recognized as an essential part of every hospitality operation, whatever the size,” said CEO and Founder Ari Andricopoulos. “Automated pricing assistance is something that will become the norm rather than the exception, for all types of hotels, from family-run businesses to large chains.”
The startup states that today, less than 10% of hotels globally use technology to help them in their pricing decisions. This is something RoomPriceGenie is determined to change. Andricopoulos added: “Current solutions are mainly targeted to large hotels, where dedicated staff is fully focused on revenue management. We believe that automated pricing needs to be made accessible to anyone. No matter if you run a 10 room hotel or a 45 unit apartment business, the impact that automated pricing has on your business is not comparable to any other software solution out there.”
CEO and Founder Ari Andricopoulos, holding a doctorate in mathematics, has worked with algorithms for the last 20 years. He first came across the challenge of room pricing when he experienced that his father, who runs a bed & breakfast in England, constantly lost money because his room prices were either too low or too high. Aiming to solve his father’s struggle, Andricopoulos developed an algorithm that took over the job of pricing rooms entirely. Today, less than 4 years later, RoomPriceGenie supports over 500 hospitality businesses globally.
The global pandemic hit the travel industry hard and the days where properties could welcome guests, mostly in between lock-downs, were limited. Having the right pricing strategy in place during those times and being highly reactive to demand and market changes was crucial to capitalize on piled-up travel demand. “The pandemic has turned many things upside down. Not only last year, but also this year. For a long time, it was highly uncertain when and if travelling was possible. But as soon as borders opened, holiday destinations were run over by travel-eager guests. Most of the properties did not see it coming and were selling their rooms for low prices, even though the demand was sometimes higher than ever before” said Jörg Siegel, CTO and Co-Founder of RoomPriceGenie.
With their intelligent solution, the startup ensures that the prices are always at a level where supply and demand meet. “Increasing revenue by 20% by charging higher prices on some days and selling more rooms on others is what we aim for.”
The new financing round was co-led by Wingman Ventures and Mutschler Ventures with participation of RKKVC and Zürcher Kantonalbank. Maximilian Engelken of Mutschler Ventures, who newly joins the Board of Directors, commented: “Even though operating in the hospitality space is challenging in current times, the RoomPriceGenie team managed to significantly and consistently expand their user base. While the market tumbled, they accelerated. They are showing an impressive performance.”
Alex Stöckl of Wingman Ventures, who took a significant share in this financing round and who have supported the company for the past two years, added: “The trust their clients put into RoomPriceGenie, shown not only by the positive feedback but also by the very low churn, shows that automated pricing is crucial to hospitality businesses, even in difficult times. The solution is highly scalable, gives users price recommendations within minutes and is easy to understand, making it the perfect match for a large share of the hospitality market.”
