Skift Take
Is it a red flag or prudent strategy that Hot Hotels has raised just $1 million in its more than two years of existence? If it really wants to expand into Latin America, Hot Hotels will probably need more muscle than this.
Hot Hotels, the same-day hotel booking app based in Spain, completed a $1 million seed round, and intends to use the funding to increase its staff and to expand into Latin America.
Axon Partners Group topped off the seed round as Hot Hotels, which is available on iOS, Android and Blackberry platforms, had previously raised around $500,000.
In contrast to its much more amply funded competitor, Hotel Tonight, Hot Hotels has emphasized distribution, developing an API for online travel agency and metasearch players.
It also differentiates itself by obtaining supply from third parties to supplement its own curation of same-day hotel deals.
Conor O’Connor, Hot Hotels’ founder and CEO, says the company has experienced strong growth in Europe, and has been competing against Hotel Tonight in Europe for about year.
Of other competitors, such as Groupon’s Blink, O’Connor says “if anything, they are less focused on Europe” than Blink was before Groupon acquired it.
O’Connor says Axon Partners Group’s global network of offices can aid Hot Hotels’ expansion in Latin America. The company plans to add four staff members, bring its roster to a dozen, by the end of the year.
Read More: The Rise of Mobile Booking in Travel
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Tags: apps, hot hotels, hotels, hoteltonight
Photo credit: Hot Hotels, a same-day booking app, plans to expand from its European base into Latin America. Pictured is its iOS app. PlaceIt by Breezi