By Lea Mira, HTN staff writer - 6.25.2025
Vienna-based startup chatlyn closed an $8.6 million Series A round led by London’s Smedvig Ventures, alongside angel investor Andreas Burike (AnyDesk), Austrian transport operator Blaguss, and other hospitality-sector backers. Supported by an innovation grant from Austria’s FFG, chatlyn is seeking to position itself as the “AI brain for hotels,” centralizing and automating guest communications across multiple languages and platforms.
Founded in late 2022 by CEO Nicolas Vorsteher, CTO Michael Urbanek, and CPO Matthias Haubner, chatlyn already serves over 1,000 properties in 30 countries—including brands like InterContinental Vienna, St. Regis Mauritius, and Singer Palace Rome. The startup aims to reduce the fragmentation of hotel guest communications, which chatlyn estimates results in over $10 billion in missed revenue per year globally due to inefficient workflows and delayed responses.
Chatlyn’s offering includes a multilingual AI assistant that integrates with 20-plus property management systems (PMS)—like Oracle Opera, Apaleo, and Mews—to display live room availability, pricing, and booking options via web chat. It supports guest messaging across diverse channels (WhatsApp, SMS, Booking.com messenger, email, social media), with translation in 35+ languages. According to the company, its WhatsApp campaign elevates open rates to 98%, far exceeding traditional email campaigns of around 20%.
Comparatively, HiJiffy—a prominent competitor—also provides AI-driven multilingual chatbots for guest requests, upselling, and concierge-like services across messaging platforms. Akia, another rival, offers simpler guest engagement tools, often acclaimed for ease of use and quicker ROI, though with fewer advanced features like real-time booking and extensive PMS integrations.
chatlyn’s deeper integration has reportedly delivered operational gains: InterContinental Vienna reports handling over 70% of guest inquiries automatically, freeing staff to focus on face-to-face guest experience.
From an investment perspective, Smedvig Principal Freddie Kalfayan notes that the hospitality sector is at an inflection point, with hotels increasingly turning to AI-powered solutions to manage rising guest demands and ongoing staffing challenges.
The Series A investment will support three strategic expansions. First, product development—chatlyn plans to roll out agentic voice-call support and an AI Booking Assistant capable of handling bookings across any channel. Second, geographic growth beyond its core German-speaking base into Southern Europe, the UAE, and Asia-Pacific. Third, team growth—including AI engineers and customer success roles—to provide consultative support for clients adapting to intelligent communication tools.
Chatlyn already holds recognition in the field: it was named “Best Chatbot Solution Provider 2024” by the World Travel Awards and received an FFG grant for its contextual AI innovations.
Still, competition remains strong. Solutions like ALICE focus on internal operations and service requests rather than guest communication, while platforms such as Medallia Concierge and Canary Technologies offer messaging tools with strong analytics and sentiment detection. Meanwhile, generalist live-chat platforms like Podium and Tidio are expanding into hospitality-focused use cases.
chatlyn’s future hinges on its ability to demonstrate tangible ROI in a crowded market. Will multilingual AI and integration depth be enough to win over operators on tight service budgets? Its early adoption by premium and international brands may be a strong validation—but execution will be key in distinguishing it from leaner, more nimble alternatives.