Take change
Travel startup Lighthouse, formerly known as OTA Insight, has purchased the profits of its Berlin-based headquarters. The deal is another step in Lighthouse's strategy to expand through talent and technology acquisition rather than amassing a client list.
Sean O'Neill
Lighthouse, a startup best known for helping hotels and short-term rentals analyze market demand, rates and positioning, has acquired HQ Revenue, the companies said Thursday.
The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.
Lighthouse, which rebranded from OTA Insight last year, said it has raised more than $100 million in venture funding and counts 65,000 hoteliers as customers. Berlin-based HQ Revenue is 10 years old and has only modest venture funding.
The main purpose of this acquisition
- The acquisition is consistent with Lighthouse's strategy of growing talent rather than buying customer lists.
- “We recognize that there are a lot of really great teams with really great skills that we can bring together to essentially accelerate our own R&D,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of Lighthouse.
- “This has been a goal for many years,” said Kurien Jacob, partner and managing director at Highgate Technology Ventures (HTV). “HQ Plus has historically been a very strong player in the DACH region, and this merger will allow Lighthouse to welcome its team and customers to our world-class team and platform as we continue to grow in the region.”
- Another example: Last February, Lighthouse acquired Stardekk to expand into the independent hotel market segment.
- “We are very excited to partner with them when they have a high-quality business that can help us accelerate the achievement of our goals, such as head office revenue,” said Gaurav Tuli, partner at investor F-Prime Capital Partners. Tuli serves on Lighthouse's Board of Directors.
What a lighthouse does
“We are probably the only startup that is more focused on being a commercial platform for various stakeholders in the hotel and short-term rental sectors,” Fitzpatrick said.
- Lighthouse collects data on how hotels and short-term rentals are performing in the market. That data is fed into revenue management software and marketing automation systems from providers like Cendyn, Duetto, and IDeaS.
- Lighthouse also provides business intelligence tools for property and portfolio performance for hotel operators, management companies and owners.
- Lighthouse aggregates data on traveler search patterns, hotel and short-term rental rates, and other market events. Then extrapolate real-time demand forecasts and insights.
- Last year, Lighthouse added solutions for professional short-term rental operators.
Use generative AI
- “One company that uses the best features of GenAI for simple, unhyped tasks is Lighthouse. This company provides Smart Summary, which is the same damn report that Revenue Manager did. [in Excel] Now it’s driven by AI,” Jacob said at Skift’s Data and AI Summit in New York on June 4. (HTV is an investor.)
Skift Research subscribers can get more context by reading this month's report, Venture Investment Trends in Travel to 2024.