By HTN Staff - 1.8.2024
Dubai-based Lokalee, an AI-powered content platform for hotels, has secured $5.6 million in pre-series A funding. This financial boost, led by Crown Private Fund and supported by three other strategic investors with backgrounds in hotel and technology, will propel Lokalee’s product development and expansion into European markets.
Lokalee’s growth is evident in its expanding customer portfolio, with 250 hotels currently utilizing its solution. The company plans to extend its reach this year into Austria, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. The immediate development plan includes the launch of a trip planner that combines AI technology with human-curated data, offering an optimal blend of both elements.
Lokalee “digital concierge” platform is designed to enhance guest interactions, streamline operations, and increase potential revenue for hotels. This customizable white-label platform allows guests to browse and book everything a property and its destination has to offer. The platform’s offerings are sourced by Lokal Curators and supported by global partners.
Lokalee’s platform has already been implemented by over 200 brands across 20 countries, including leading hotel groups such as Movenpick, Sheraton, Rotana, Sofitel, Hilton, and Millennium. According to the company’s CEO, Samir Abi Frem,the new funding will accelerate the company’s ambitious expansion to optimize the digitization of the guest journey for its customers.
Lokalee is designed to provide hotel guests with personalized recommendations for events, attractions, restaurants, galleries, activities, transportation, and lifestyle services based on their geo-location, purpose of visit, preferences, and availability. The platform eliminates the need for in-house teams to search, write, and update destination content, as it is a fully-integrated solution that covers all guest needs.
The Lokalee app allows guests to access unique local content about both the hotel and the city they’re visiting. The app is interactive, enabling hotels to connect directly with their guests from pre-arrival to post-departure. It also offers the potential for additional revenue generation through in-app purchases.
Lokalee was created by Advanced Digital Technology DWC-LLC, headquartered in Dubai. The app is currently available across cities in the Middle East and Europe, with potential to become a leading lifestyle travel app for business travelers, leisure guests, and local residents across major cities worldwide.
The platform offers a great deal of flexibility to hotels, allowing them to customize the visual features of the app to match their brand’s colors and add their logo. Hotels can also highlight their key features and promote their own offers and promotions. The ‘Explore the hotel’ page enables hotels to promote special services, including offers and promotions, in-house dining, transportation services, and facilities.
Hotel administrators have access to Lokalee’s content management system to make necessary edits and updates to the aforementioned features. They also have access to detailed booking and traffic reports.
By analyzing guest behaviors, Lokalee’s AI-powered technology can provide hyper-personalized recommendations to users, based on their geo-location, purpose of visit, available time, and personal preferences. The pre-series A funding round should go a long way in fueling product development and market growth as the company looks to expand its market presence and grow its hotel customer portfolio.