- This new round will allow the by-the-hour hotel bookings company to continue to grow in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, as well as expand into the United States.
- The company, with headquarters in Barcelona and a new office in Mexico, offers microstays of 3, 6 and 12 hours in over 3,000 hotels in 600 international destinations.
BYHOURS, the leading platform in booking hotel rooms by the hour, has closed a new international funding round at 8 million euros. The company, founded by Christian Rodríguez and Guillermo Gaspart, is the first and only platform that allows microstay bookings in more than 3,000 hotels around the world in packs of 3, 6 and 12 hours, where the user chooses the check-in and check-out time, 24 hours a day. With this new round, BYHOURS aims to consolidate its presence in Europe, Latin America and flight connection points in the Middle East, as well as to start operations in the United States.
Since its creation in 2012, the company has been supported by national and international investors with a total value of 18 million euros. New international investors have participated in this new funding round, including lead investors such as Angel Ventures and DILA Capital, both from Mexico, as well as current partners such as Howzat Partners. “Our goal for 2020 is, in addition to continuing to grow in our current markets and to start operations in the United States, to be able to develop the B2B market and improve our connectivity with other players in the tourism sector,” said Guillermo Gaspart, CEO and founder of BYHOURS.
BYHOURS is one of the most promising start-ups in the tourism sector in Spain and abroad, leading an innovative concept of microstay hotel bookings. “We bring flexibility to a sector that until now has been very limited to its traditional rules and operations and we provide additional income to the hotel sector,” explained Christian Rodriguez, “frequent travellers, whether business or family, can stay for a few hours in hotels near airports, train stations, business areas or in the city centre. We also offer hotels near hospitals, football stadiums, theatres, leisure areas…”.
The platform already has more than 250,000 users and has sold more than one million hotel hours, generating more than 20 million euros in turnover for the hotel industry. In line with its clear internationalisation strategy, last year the company opened a new office in Mexico with the aim of centralising operations and projects in Latin America, as well as managing the United States opening by attracting hotels in the country and developing business in the US market. In fact, by the end of 2019, 52% of the company’s total sales were international.
By 2020, the company expects to increase its turnover by more than 150% with the addition of more than 2,000 hotels to its portfolio. The platform also expects that next year 75% of its revenue will come from international bookings.
BYHOURS already has a total of 62 employees, 48 in Barcelona and 14 in Mexico City.
