SaaS startup Amenitiz has just acquired French firm Ododo as it strengthens its position in the travel tech sector. The Barcelona-based team is building an all-in-one solution for hoteliers, helping them build an online presence, take payments, craft experiences, and find educational and training tools.
After an incredible summer for European travel, one thing has been left clear: the future of travel is tech-enabled, digital, and constantly evolving. A number of travel innovators seemed to bide their time during the pandemic and years of travel upheaval, using it to iterate and innovate, creating new ways to travel and support travellers as much as travel operators and service providers.
As a result, the travel tech sector is one of the most exciting verticals in Europe at the moment. There are promising startups developing innovative new products and solutions, feeding the hungry appetite of travellers across the world and addressing new demands for digitalisation and hyper-personalised services.
By the way: If you’re interested in all things travel, make sure you check out this year’s FutureTravel Summit!
One startup that we certainly have had a close eye on is Amenititz – a travel tech from Barcelona building an all-in-one management system for hoteliers, helping them take on the titans of the sector. The startup has now made an eye-catching acquisition as it strengthens its hold in the market.
The details
Just a few months after raising its Series A round of over €27 million in April, the largest ever for a Spanish SaaS startup, Amenitiz has now snapped up Ododo in a deal that sees it become one of the stand-out names in European travel.
To date Amenitiz has raised over €35 million from renowned VCs such as Eight Roads, Chalfen Ventures, Point-Nine, Backed and Otium Capital – investors in some of the most disruptive companies in tech, including Alibaba, Toast, Zendesk, Delivery Hero, Revolut, Loom and Thought Machine
Ododo is a French company, pioneering the space of online training for hotel operators. The platform gives hoteliers the chance to learn and train on all the strategies, tactics, tips and tools necessary to increase their direct bookings and become more profitable. As part of the deal, Marc-Antoine de la Rüe du Can, the founder of this Nantes-based firm, will join the Amenitiz team as Head of Content. With over 15 years of experience in the hotel industry as a hotel manager, hotel consultant and creator of educational content, his industry expertise will enable Amenitiz to accelerate the creation of high-value-added training for hoteliers.
Empowering independent hoteliers
Founded in 2018, Amenitiz has a clear vision to support independent hoteliers with better management systems. This cohort of travel providers is struggling to take on the big corporate names in the hotel industry and often relies on a messy mix of poorly maintained software as they try to keep up with the accelerated digitisation of the travel sector.
Amenitiz’s all-in-one solution essentially centralizes all of the tools an independent hotelier could need in one place – helping them boost their online presence, build beautiful websites, manage payments, automate tasks, manage inventory and craft unforgettable experiences for their guests both offline and online.
Europe is the world’s leading tourist destination, with more than 700,000 hotels, bed & breakfasts and vacation rentals, 80% of which are independent properties with 50 rooms or less. Aside from dealing with digitisation issues, of these hoteliers, the overwhelming majority report problems when it comes to recruiting and training staff – and this is where Amenitiz now want to focus on.
The acquisition of Ododo is in line with Amenitiz’s vision of supporting independent hoteliers in better managing their properties, not only by providing them with high-performance tools but also by democratizing access to the knowledge needed to optimize their business. Investment in training is therefore a logical step to continue to support independent hoteliers, especially in this difficult period in terms of recruitment.
Alexandre Guinefolleau, CEO of Amenitiz, explained: “Independent hoteliers are evolving in a constantly changing environment that requires them to be constantly on the lookout to adapt in real time to best practices. However, the day-to-day management of a hotel is so busy that they don’t have the time to do this monitoring. This is where we want to help them, and the acquisition of Ododo is part of our strategy to offer hoteliers what they really need: an all-in-one tool adapted to their daily challenges and also practical advice that can be applied on a daily basis, allowing them to have an immediate impact on their results.”
At the same time, the travel innovators will leverage the deal to launch their very own, The Hotel Club – a multilingual training platform on which hoteliers all over the world, whether Amenitiz customers or not, can find concrete, didactic and practical training, including the Ododo Accelerator, completely free. The Accelerator has enabled hundreds of independent hoteliers to boost their direct bookings, sometimes as much as 90%, and to make their hotels more profitable.
In addition to the training courses, physical events will be held regularly throughout Europe. The aim is to allow hoteliers to exchange with professionals from different fields in order to further sharpen their know-how.
Marc-Antoine de la Rüe du Can, founder of Ododo and now Head of Content at Amenitiz said:“Helping independent hoteliers face the many challenges and pitfalls of our industry is a passion. When Alexandre asked me to join them in the Amenitiz adventure I saw an opportunity to help even more hoteliers. With the means at our disposal, we will revolutionise access to knowledge and know-how in an industry that sorely needs it. You have no idea how happy I am to be able to have such an impact on the lives of people who get up every morning to make their customers happy. Now it’s our turn to ensure the happiness of …independent hoteliers!”
