Online hotel marketing startup buuteeq, which we covered briefly some time back, has just announced having raised another $10 million in funding. The funding round, led by Madrona Venture Group and by Concur, brings buuteeq’s total capital raised to some $17 million thus far. Along with this news, the startup also announced the addition of Concur CEO, Steve Singh and Madrona Partner, and Tim Porter to the company’s board of directors.
Intended to accelerate buuteeq’s growth still further, this funding and the company’s current revenue uptake, should extend the brand further across the hospitality landscape online. The company announcement tells of buuzeeq’s innovative marketing tools for hotels, current hotel engagement, and of course the potential greater resources can provide for growth. Specifically, the release talks of North and Latin American expansion, as well as Asia and Western European plans.
Forest Key, co-founder and CEO of buuteeq, had this to add about this latest round:
“In our first 18 months in market we’ve already helped nearly 4,000 properties expand their reach and marketing capabilities online: resorts, luxury boutiques, major hotel flag franchisees, independents, and inn and B&B owners have all embraced our product. Our innovative software improves occupancy rates while minimizing costs and is the solution that hoteliers have been waiting for. By helping hotels with their digital marketing we improve the discovery and booking experience for millions of guests worldwide which is our central passion as a company.”
buuteeq’s so called “Cloud Digital Marketing System” has been responsible for some 2 million plus reservation inquiries, according to the news. Where “Look-to-Book conversions” are concerned, the company claims these variables to be up by as much 20x where presenting prospective guests with relevant and compelling info goes. Direct to hotel bookings are something we know a bit about in our consulting business, so what buuteeq has going on is of added import for what amounts to “coming innovation” and business in the space. Steve Singh, chairman and CEO of Concur. added this:
“An integral component of our vision for the Concur T&E Cloud is to drive innovation throughout the entire travel eco-system. In partnership with buuteeq, we can help hotels of all sizes, anywhere in the world reach their customers. This drives ongoing benefits for our corporate clients, who want to deliver the broadest array of corporate approved choices to their business travelers. It’s through the creativity and entrepreneurship of smart companies like buuteeq that these next-generation services will be developed and delivered through the Concur T&E Cloud.”
Tim Porter, a managing director at Madrona Venture Group, also spoke via the news release, adding; “buuteeq’s digital marketing solution solves a very tangible problem.” As the space for next gen travel disruptives heats up, whether they be sheer business models or pure innovators, we’ll see more and more funding heading to the most potential. On the surface, buuteeq appears to be a fully integrated solution versus the fragmented nature of ad and marketing platforms currently out there. You’ll note I said “on the surface”, it appears this is where the startup is headed – making one tool to broadcast across mobile, social, search, and industry channels. It’s the right idea, for sure.
We already witnesses first hand Tom Magnuson’s Global Hotel Exchange, our content team has been integral in developing Stay.com, and our marketing and PR aspect supports Treovi from Switzerland, WIHP Hotels in Paris, and others we cannot mention – given this, I must say buuteeq is one of the most interesting and safest bets for a win.
If you would like more info about buuteeq, we suggest following the links provided. Meanwhile, readers can see the full list of investors in this fascinating company, as well as the key people by clicking on this link. You can also contact the startup directly via Brian Saab, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, at brian@buuteeq.com or 206.913.2674
We’ll be keeping a close eye on buuteeq, and we’ll likely test some of the marketing system features if we can arrange to. buuteeq’s funding comes from a combination of traditional and angel investors, primarily in the high tech and hospitality industries. A full list of investors can be found here. The team at this budding hospitality player so far, can be seen in the image below. Not a bad looking bunch of innovators.
