HotelTonight aims to get its name out there after Series E funding round

The Series E funding was announced in March and takes the amount raised by the San Francisco firm to $120 million Continue reading →

Mobile hotel booking app HotelTonight will invest in getting its brand better known in the UK following its recent $37 million funding round.

The Series E funding was announced in March and takes the amount raised by the San Francisco firm to $120 million.

The latest round, led by Accel Partners, valued HotelTonight at $500 million.

Amir Segall, vice president international, said: “We have been profitable since April last year, which was a very important milestone for us.

“We went for another round so we can control our own destiny. The opportunity we now have is to raise our awareness.

“We can invest that money now doing that and get a return later. We feel like we have our company DNA in this product and that we have the best hotel booking experience.

“We feel eventually mobile is going to eat desktop and that’s where we have been all along and the rise of mobile is working with us.

“We have developed a lot of knowledge about what it takes to build a mobile experience. We have product supply, the one thing that’s missing is not enough people know about us.”

Segall said HotelTonight has a very high repeat user rate with people using it again and again, almost to the extent that they become addicted to it.

It will look to scale its marketing efforts with advertising on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram and mobile networks.

It has also been establishing partnerships focusing on the events sector. In the UK HotelTonight has worked with Chelsea Football Club to promote its service to fans.

“By associating ourselves with these sorts of brands we get our name out there. It’s a really interesting product to put in front of people who go to these types of events.

“Right now very much the focus is on the US and UK.”

Segall added HotelTonight will continue to explore opportunities with hotels for its digital concierge service, HT Pro, which offers a live chat service to customers during their stay.

“There is definitely a desire for engaging with customers while they are staying at the hotel and what we provide is a really good mobile experience,” he said.

Segall added it remained to be seen if mobile web with app functionality starts to take over from apps as mobile devices and wifi and networks become quicker.

“What’s important for us is we always stay at the forefront of technology and for us to experiment with all these technologies to see what sticks.

“You cannot just take the web experience and put it on mobile. That does not work. You have to create the mobile experience from scratch.

“Users and providers want to have a simple experience, they are getting more impatient, they want things fast and to be doable right away.”