By HTN Staff - 1.5.2024
Smartpricing, an Italy-based software provider specializing in revenue management for the hotel and apartment sector, has raised $14 million in funding. The round, which included $12 million in equity and $2.5 million in bank credit lines, was led by technology investment firm Partech. Other participants included Techshop’s Gianluca D’Agostino, Azimut Digitech Fund, supported by FNDX, and the founders of Bending Spoons.
Founded in 2020 by Luca Rodella, Eugenio Bancaro, and Tommaso Centonze, Smartpricing offers revenue management software for both hotels and apartments. The software uses a proprietary algorithm to process various types of data, including those related to the market, saturation, price trends in a specific geographic area, and the hotel’s history, to propose the best possible price to improve the performance of hospitality structures. The company plans to use the funds to expand its team, launch new products, and further consolidate its position in the software and fintech vertical for the hospitality sector.
The company’s software uses artificial intelligence and machine learning models to analyze and optimize pricing strategies for hospitality businesses. According to the company, it performs several key functions. Firstly, it analyzes an accommodation’s performance and location trends multiple times a day. It cross-references historical data with market data to provide a comprehensive overview of the business’s performance and the wider market conditions.
Secondly, Smartpricing’s proprietary algorithm processes the collected data and automatically calculates and suggests the most profitable price for rooms. This calculation takes into account any rules and price limits set by the user, ensuring that the suggested prices align with the business’s pricing strategy.
Thirdly, the software continuously learns and improves. Through user interactions with the platform and by evaluating sales trends, the system continuously updates its knowledge base. This means that the prices suggested by the software become increasingly accurate and effective over time.
Finally, Smartpricing integrates with a business’s Property Management System (PMS) and Channel Manager. This allows the software to automatically and in real time publish price updates. As a result, online listings are always updated with the best prices, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring that potential customers always see the most competitive rates.
The funds will be used to expand the company’s staff and launch new products. This comes as other travel-sector companies, such as Airbnb and Accor, are also investing in AI. Airbnb recently acquired startup GamePlanner.AI for $200 million, while Accor launched an AI-powered travel assistant in partnership with Amazon Web Services.
Smartpricing’s proprietary algorithm processes data on market, price, and hotel historic data to help hoteliers increase turnover. In just three years, the company has managed 2 million bookings for over 3,000 hotels and other travel accommodations, increasing their turnover by an average of 30%.
The funding for Smartpricing was Partech’s first from its latest fund totaling $393 million. The fund plans to invest across four themes including B2B and B2B2C vertical platforms and application software. Partech’s latest fund, Partech Venture, is focusing on the same areas as its predecessor, Partech International Ventures VII, which is backing mission-critical software companies powering the digital transformation of Enterprises and SMBs.
Partech has backed global category leaders including ABTasty, Agicap, Akeneo, Bitrise, Compte Nickel, Fresha, Guardicore, Kantox, ManoMano, Medigate, Memfault, Odaseva, Papernest, Platform.sh, and Shippeo. Since the end of 2021, Partech has realized 11 exits generating at least a 3x multiple on invested capital, including 6 from the venture portfolio.