Tourism continues to recover from the impact of COVID-19, with global tourism receipts reaching $2.23 trillion in 2023, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2020. This has huge ramifications for startups building technology to serve this sector. Mews, one of his startup companies building tools to improve his IT management in hotels, announced a $110 million growth round to win more business .
The financing, led by Kinnevik, has a post-money valuation of $1.2 billion. This is slightly more than Amsterdam-based Muse's Series C announced in late 2022, when Muse raised $185 million at a valuation of $865 million. The company confirmed to me that they are not making a profit.
But it has grown. The company's SaaS tools cover both tools for hoteliers themselves, including front desk check-in, payments, reservations, and housekeeping management. Also for guests to reserve rooms and services. It did not disclose its revenue or net loss, but noted that total payment volume now stands at $8 billion, up from $2.3 billion at the end of 2022.
The company says it now has more than 5,000 hotel customers, up from 3,253 hotels a year ago. While it has some traction in the long tail of independent hoteliers, it also brokers significant deals with major chains such as Accor, Generator Freehand, Strawberry Group, Social Hub and Airels.
Part of the startup's strategy to get out of the red is certainly focusing on economies of scale. The company has now acquired eight other startups in the hotel IT space, including three from last year (Frontdesk Anywhere, Hotello, and Nomi).
In 2022, the company's founder and president, Richard Walter, leans into the Airbnb effect, where more private properties are adopted as an alternative to temporary accommodation, offering the tool to a wider range of customers beyond hotels. He said he plans to consider ways to do so. .
“We see ourselves as the platform on which businesses in our industry operate,” he said at the time. “We take a broad approach to our ambitions. Muse is nominally in charge of hotels and hospitality, but it could also be hostels or Airbnb or a service for people in mixed-use real estate. Long term, I feel that what we think of as commercial and residential is converging. This is the direction all real estate is going. What's happening post-pandemic is that more people are It’s about recognizing that I want to spend more time living a traveling life.”
Fast forward to today, and while the company has tools available for serviced apartments, it has not yet expanded into the residential market or commercial properties, and is focusing more than ever on the hotel sector in particular. It seems that.
“As more hoteliers embrace modern technology, we have a tremendous opportunity to help them streamline their operations,” CEO Matt Well said in a statement today.
Perhaps investors are also paying such attention recently. They are generally cutting back on the number of growth rounds they participate in in Europe, looking for safer bets and seeking exits from closing investments.
Kinnevik, Revaia, and Goldman Sachs Alternatives also participated in the Series D, as well as Notion Capital and new investor LGVP.
“As cloud adoption accelerates across the $15.5 trillion global travel and tourism industry, Muse is one of the world's most innovative “We are having a transformative impact supporting leading hospitality brands.” statement.