Hospitality technology business raises £5m growth capital funding from Averroes Capital
Product development and team growth priorities for the UK company as it sets its sights on revolutionising hospitality ecommerce
Cheltenham, UK - 3 November 2022: Hotel technology business Journey Hospitality has secured £5 million growth capital investment. The funds, from private equity firm Averroes Capital, will enable Journey to deliver its vision to revolutionise ecommerce for the hospitality industry.
This is the first growth funding raise for the organically-grown company since it was established in 2010. Following the successful launch of onejourney® - an all-in-one ecommerce platform for hotels - Journey will use the funding to advance product development and achieve market expansion.
Journey Hospitality has over 400 luxury hotel property customers worldwide. In the past year, its annual software revenue has grown by 151%, with revenue forecast set to grow rapidly in the next 12 months.
The investment will support the development and scaling up of its technology platform worldwide, and be used to enhance Journey’s team - including the bolstering of senior level executives alongside product development, sales and operations as the headcount increases to more than 100 staff in the short term.
Journey’s founder and CEO, Simon Bullingham, said: “The investment will help us achieve long-term growth and shake up the industry with technology that addresses key ecommerce challenges within hotels. We have worked alongside luxury hotels for over a decade and pride ourselves in truly understanding their business. Our latest platform, onejourney® - the world’s first unified ecommerce platform for hotels - addresses a key pain point for hoteliers and maximises property profitability.”
Simon Rowan, Partner of Averroes Capital, said: “Journey Hospitality has achieved impressive results with its existing technology, and is held in high esteem by luxury hoteliers. Our team has deep experience in unlocking business potential and achieving commercial growth, particularly with B2B software companies. We’re looking forward to using our expertise to help grow Journey Hospitality, supporting Simon and his team as they deliver significant value to the hotel industry with their technology platforms.”
In the last year, Journey Hospitality launched its revolutionary ‘Shopify for hotels’ onejourney® platform, which aggregates all of a hotel’s products and services into live bookable inventory, enabling hotel guests to book multiple products seamlessly online in one basket. Already deployed across 102 leading luxury hotel and resort websites, there are a further 37 properties due for onboarding this year. Clients have experienced a 25% reduction in inbound calls and doubled conversion rates, with 30% of their online orders featuring multiple products.
Since 2010, Journey Hospitality has been building ecommerce web experiences for luxury hotels to support guest acquisition through digital marketing and drive online conversion and booking transactions. The product offering also includes the Gifted platform - the UK’s leading gift voucher platform used by hundreds of luxury hotels and resorts including Claridge’s, Beaverbrook, The Landmark London and Chewton Glen.
About Journey Hospitality
Journey Hospitality is a hotel technology business revolutionising ecommerce for the hospitality industry maximising online experiences to drive commercial success. Its portfolio includes onejourney® - the world’s first all-in-one ecommerce platform for hotels enabling guests to customise their own stay by booking rooms, spa, dining and retail products in a single shopping basket, and Gifted - the UK’s market leading hotel gift voucher platform.
Established in 2010, the Cheltenham-based business has a team of over 60 industry experts at the forefront of hotel ecommerce innovation. Journey Hospitality is a Certified Google Partner, and works with over 400 luxury hotel partners around the world including Claridge’s, Beaverbrook, Calcot Collection, The Londoner, Soneva (Maldives) and Grantley Hall.
About Averroes Capital
Averroes Capital is a London based private equity investor which looks to invest £10m to £40m of equity in UK and Ireland headquartered business operating across a range of sectors, including – business services, industrials, IT & software, healthcare, education and consumer niches. Averroes partners with ambitious management teams to build great businesses through a flexible investment approach to ensure each company has the support and capital to deliver their growth ambitions.