Hotel software maker Mews nabs $300M at $2.5B valuation

Mews Systems BV, a Dutch startup that develops software and payment terminals for hotel operators, has raised $300 million in funding.

The company stated on Thursday that EQT Growth led the Series D round. It was joined by Atomico, HarbourVest Partners, Kinnevik, Battery Ventures and Tiger Global. Mews is now valued at $2.5 billion.

The investment follows a year in which the company processed more than $19 billion worth of transactions through its hotel management platform. The software enables resort operators to embed a room booking widget in their websites. According to Mews, guests can place reservations in four steps and avoid the fees charged by online travel agencies.

A feature called Mews Spaces allows hotel operators to offer not only rooms but also various add-ons. A resort can sell access to meeting rooms, gyms and other spaces on an hourly basis. It’s also possible to offer monthly memberships, which hotel operators can promote to not only tourists but also local consumers. Mews says that Mews Spaces generated $537 million in additional revenue for customers last year.

The company also offers several other purchase management features as part of its platform. One tool eases the task of generating quotes for events, while another enables restaurant guests to place orders via a mobile app. Additionally, Mews provides payment terminals that make it possible to accept credit cards at the front desk.

Typically, hotel operators use different payment tools to bill items such as restaurant orders and parking spots. That usually requires them to issue multiple bills. Mews’ says that its software enables companies to charge all of a guest’s purchases to a single bill, which streamlines the customer management workflow.

The platform also promises to ease other aspects of a hotel’s day-to-day operations. A tool called Atomize can automatically adjust room rates based on demand signals and competitor pricing, while a scheduling dashboard enables resort staff to track reservations centrally.

Mews will use the proceeds from its funding round to enhance its platform. According to the company, the development effort will place particular emphasis on building new artificial intelligence and payment processing features. In parallel, it plans to bring its platform to more international markets.

It’s possible the company will also use the funding to make acquisitions. Mews closed its most recent purchase, a data analytics startup called DataChat Inc., a few weeks ago. It earlier acquired more than a dozen other software companies. 

Image: Mews