Mews raises $ 110 mln to boost cloud technology in hospitality sector

Netherlands-based Mews, the leading hospitality cloud, has announced that it is raising $ 110 million in a new funding round. The round is led by existing investors Kinnevik, along with Revaia, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Notion Capital and new investor LGVP. With the new funding, the company's valuation is now set at $ 1.2 billion.

The valuation follows a year of significant growth. In the past year, Mews achieved the following milestones:

The new funding strengthens Mews' financial position in preparation for significant growth. The funding will allow Mews to prioritise their global expansion, research & development, and acquisitions, enabling the most innovative organisations to accelerate their digital transformation.

Richard Valtr, a former hotelier, founded Mews when he was building a hotel in Prague. Valtr had worked as a night receptionist during the summer holidays and realised then that the hospitality industry uses outdated technology installed on physical servers. He wanted Mews to transform hotel operations with cloud solutions that can be integrated with thousands of other technology solutions. Today, 5,000 customers worldwide, including Strawberry Hotels, The Social Hub and Airelles, manage more than 350,000 rooms using Mews.

Richard Valtr, founder of Mews, said: "We are seeing a fundamental shift among some of the leading hospitality brands. They want to reshape the way they offer their services, and fast. With this funding, we will continue to build industry-leading products with support from our top team. In five years' time, the way hotels and guests interact will be very different, and Mews will be at the forefront of that."

Matthijs Welle, CEO of Mews, added: "This funding is a huge appreciation of our strong vision, the Mews team, our forward-thinking customers and committed investors, who have helped us get to where we are today. As more and more hoteliers embrace modern technology, we have a huge opportunity to help them streamline the way they work, build more profitable businesses and provide personalised guest experiences. Mews is in a unique position to truly reshape the industry."

Akhil Chainwala, investment director at Kinnevik, said: "Matt and Richard are building a product and a team that are truly changing the industry. In the short time following our initial investment, Mews has exceeded our expectations by expanding into new regions and segments. We are thrilled that we can now support the team even more to fulfil their ambitions and accelerate even more, especially to further expand the platform's combination of software and payments. We look forward to continuing this journey with Mews and being part of this industry transformation."

Alexander Lippert, Managing Director in Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, added: "Mews is making an impact and supporting some of the most innovative hospitality brands globally. Cloud usage is rapidly increasing in the travel and tourism sector, which spans $ 15.5 trillion globally. As the demand for modern technology continues to grow, Mews has positioned itself with its industry-leading platform to support an even wider range of customers' operations, diversify their revenue and enhance the guest experience."

The latest funding comes on top of the company's investment round of $ 185 million in December 2022, which was led by Kinnevik and Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Growth Equity division.