Hotel Engine Achieves $2.1B Valuation With $140M Permira Investment
September 17 2024 - 8:05AM
With new products and a new brand on the horizon, travel technology
leader Hotel Engine today announced a $140M Series C growth
investment led by Permira Growth Opportunities II, a fund advised
by global private equity firm Permira.
Hotel Engine will use the funding to support ongoing product
development, including the launch of flight and rental car bookings
to its platform. The new booking options will go live in October,
making Hotel Engine an all-in-one solution for business travel.
Alongside the new product release, Hotel Engine will change its
name to "Engine" to reflect its expanded focus.
“Hotel bookings will always be in our DNA, but we’re out to
transform the entire travel experience,” said Hotel Engine CEO Elia
Wallen. “We want to become the engine of business travel. Our new
name will reflect that, and with Permira’s latest investment, we’ll
be better positioned than ever to turn our ambitions into
reality.”
Denver-based Hotel Engine has quickly become a go-to option for
business travelers thanks to its industry-leading tech and
innovative features like consolidated invoices, coverage for
incidentals, 24/7 customer support, whole-company trip insurance
and free travel-management software to help customers save time and
money. Hotel Engine’s contract-free approach with no minimums or
agent-assist fees makes adoption easy for businesses of all types
and sizes.
Hotel Engine connects business travelers to a robust network of
more than 750,000 hotels, 300 airlines and 40 rental car companies.
Travel providers are also able to use Hotel Engine’s Partner Hub
software platform for free which enables them to provide special
offers to business travelers, manage reservations, create marketing
campaigns and benchmark against competitors.
“We are proud to have built a platform that benefits everyone,”
Wallen said. “In addition to the value we provide to businesses, we
also help hotels raise their visibility and build relationships
with business travelers worldwide through our Partner Hub
platform.”
It’s a winning strategy. Hotel Engine has used only $20M of
outside capital to reach its current $2.1B valuation, up from $1.3B
at its Series B in November of 2021. The company is profitable,
experiencing 70% year-over-year revenue growth at scale, and is on
track to book over 10 million room nights this year.
Permira Principal Alex Melamud has joined Hotel Engine’s Board
of Directors.
“Hotel Engine is a category leader in more ways than one,” he
said. “They’ve figured out how to provide the benefits of managed
travel without the downsides such as contracts, minimum spend
requirements and extra support fees, and they’ve also created a
business that appeals to both travelers and suppliers like hotels,
airlines and car rental companies. We are confident that Hotel
Engine has miles of room to run, and we’re excited to be part of
the journey alongside Elia and his team,” commented Melamud.
About Hotel EngineHotel Engine, soon to be
“Engine,” is radically simplifying business travel by providing
software that saves companies time and money without the hassle of
contracts, agent-assist fees or minimum spends. Its double-sided
marketplace connects tens of thousands of active businesses to a
robust network of more than 750,000 hotels, 300 airlines and 40
rental car companies to create a smarter and more rewarding
business travel network. To learn more,
visit www.hotelengine.com.
Interested in using Hotel Engine to streamline your business
lodging? Visit hotelengine.com/sign-up, or download our app on
the App Store or Google Play.
About PermiraPermira is a global investment
firm that backs successful businesses with growth ambitions.
Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds across two core asset
classes, private equity and credit, with total committed capital of
approximately €80bn. Within private equity, Permira Growth
Opportunities (PGO) backs disruptive technology and tech-enabled
companies as they scale to the next level. The PGO funds have
previously backed and helped scale some of the largest and
fastest-growing internet and technology businesses globally,
including AllTrails, BioCatch, Carta, Housecall Pro, FlixBus, Full
Truck Alliance, G2, Klarna, Relativity and Sysdig. Permira employs
over 500 people in 16 offices across Europe, the United States and
Asia. For more information, visit www.permira.com or follow us on
LinkedIn.
Press Contact:Firebrand Communications for
Hotel
Enginehotelengine@firebrand.marketing 415-848-9175
Nina Gilbert / James Williams for
Permira media@permira.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4513c8c2-b95a-4cb1-aaf1-0aba80b2200e