chatlyn Secures €8M Series A to Build the AI Brain for Global Hotel Operations - Middle East Business News and Information
With this investment, chatlyn aims to accelerate its mission to become 'the AI brain for hotels'—an intelligent system that supports hotel operations (front desk, reservations, marketing, and guest services) and autonomously optimizes guest communications to maximize revenue and satisfaction. The Problem: Hospitality's €10 Billion Communication Crisis
The global hotel industry loses an estimated €10 billion annually due to fragmented guest communication systems, missed booking opportunities, and inefficient staff workflows. Hotels today juggle 8-12 different platforms for guest messaging – from WhatsApp and email to booking channels, like Airbnb and Booking.com, and social media – creating chaos that frustrates both guests expecting instant, personalized service and staff drowning in repetitive tasks.
'Every day, hotels are missing revenue because a guest inquiry comes in at 2 AM and gets lost in the shuffle, or a staff member can't quickly find the right response in the right language. In today's world, you lose potential guests when you don't respond immediately,' said Nicolas Vorsteher, CEO and Co-founder of chatlyn. ' We want to bring back meaningful conversations to the hospitality industry and free up staff's valuable time for in-person guest interactions. We're building the AI brain for hotels – an AI that understands hospitality context, speaks 35+ languages fluently, and learns each property's unique voice to deliver experiences that feel both personal and effortless.' Breakthrough Technology Driving Rapid Adoption
Since launching in late 2022, chatlyn has rapidly scaled to serve over 1,000 properties across 30 countries, including luxury brands like St. Regis Mauritius, Singer Palace Rome, and InterContinental properties. The company recently opened its first Middle East office in Dubai, strengthening its presence in the region's rapidly growing luxury hospitality market. The platform's success stems from several industry-first innovations:
AI-Powered Visual Webchat: The hospitality industry's first truly intelligent visual assistant that showcases rooms with live pricing and availability while guiding guests through complete conversational booking processes—not just answering questions.
98% Open Rate Communication: chatlyn's WhatsApp guest journey messaging achieves a 98% open rate compared to traditional email's 20%, dramatically outperforming legacy marketing channels.
Comprehensive Channel Integration: chatlyn is currently the only solution that integrates with Airbnb and Booking messenger alongside conventional channels like email, WhatsApp, SMS, social media platforms and many others.
Comprehensive AI Assistant Suite: From voice calls to review responses, the platform handles every communication touchpoint with context-aware intelligence, featuring real-time translation in 35+ languages, automated email drafting, and intelligent reply suggestions that maintain your property's unique brand voice.
With deep integrations into 20+ major hotel management systems including Oracle Opera, Protel by Planet, Mews, and Apaleo, chatlyn acts as the central nervous system for hotel operations.
'chatlyn has fundamentally transformed our guest experience from reactive to proactive,' said Garry Loefgen, Head of Commercial at InterContinental Vienna. 'Our AI assistant handles over 70% of inquiries instantly in perfect German, English, Arabic, and many other languages, while our team focuses on creating magical moments. It's like having a multilingual concierge that never sleeps and gets smarter every day.' Investment Validates Market Leadership Position
'The hospitality sector is experiencing its biggest technological transformation since online booking, and chatlyn has positioned itself at the epicenter of this AI revolution,' said Freddie Kalfayan, Principal at Smedvig Ventures. 'Their rapid adoption by premium hotel brands, industry-first AI capabilities, and exceptional founding team convinced us they're building the platform that will define the future of guest communication. The market opportunity is massive and underserved.' Aggressive Expansion and Product Roadmap
The Series A funding will fuel chatlyn's ambitious growth strategy across three key areas:
Product Innovation: Accelerate development of agentic AI capabilities for phone support and launch the AI Booking Assistant that seamlessly integrates across any communication channel to capture more direct bookings.
Geographic Expansion: Solidify market leadership in German-speaking regions while expanding across wider Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the UAE – markets where demand for multilingual AI communication is exploding.
Team Expansion: Scale the existing AI and development team to serve customers not only as a software solution but as AI consultants, positioning chatlyn ahead of the intensifying competition for AI talent in the travel industry.
'This funding represents more than capital – it's validation of our vision to make every hotel conversation intelligent and connected to relevant operational systems,' said Michael Urbanek, CTO and Co-founder. 'Our AI doesn't just automate responses; it understands context, anticipates needs, and creates those delightful moments that turn first-time guests into lifelong advocates.'
The company's technological excellence has earned recognition from both industry and government institutions. chatlyn was recently honored as the Best Chatbot Solution Provider in 2024 by the World Travel Awards and received innovation funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) for its groundbreaking AI development. Key Metrics at a Glance €8M Series A led by Smedvig Ventures
led by Smedvig Ventures 1,000+ properties across 30 countries
across 30 countries Founded: Late 2022
Late 2022 Key integrations: Oracle Opera, Protel by Planet, Apaleo, clock PMS, Mews
Oracle Opera, Protel by Planet, Apaleo, clock PMS, Mews Awards & Recognition: Best Chatbot Solution Provider 2024 (World Travel Awards), FFG Innovation Grant recipient
Best Chatbot Solution Provider 2024 (World Travel Awards), FFG Innovation Grant recipient Notable customers: The Royal Stable Dubai, St. Regis Mauritius, InterContinental Vienna, Le Grand Bellevue Gstaad, plus luxury resorts and boutique properties across Europe and Asia-Pacific
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Egypt Independent
4 days ago
- Egypt Independent
FM highlights Egypt's strong historical ties with Austria
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty highlighted on Saturday 28/6/2025 the profound historical relationship between Egypt and Austria. Abdelatty made his remarks during a press conference he held with his visiting Austrian counterpart Beate Meinl-Reisinger, following an official session of talks. The top diplomat stated that their discussions covered the close relations between Egypt and Austria, most particularly in the political, economic, trade, and educational fields. He noted that their talks reflected a shared vision for advancing cooperation to broader horizons, adding that both sides emphasized the importance of building on the current momentum in bilateral relations. Meanwhile, he announced that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a mechanism for political consultations, reflecting the two countries' mutual desire to enhance cooperation. He also mentioned that discussions tackled ways to boost economic and investment cooperation, praising the support of Austrian companies operating in Egypt and their role in boosting the country's development efforts. Abdelatty said an MoU signed between Egypt and Austria to launch a political consultation mechanism affirms a mutual willingness to strengthen cooperation in the economic, trade and investment sectors, as well as collaboration for combating illegal migration and terrorism. He noted that the number of Austrian companies in Egypt has tripled over the past five years, to reach 500 operating in various fields, hailing their extensive expertise, especially in the new and renewable energy, chemical and food industries, desalination and water recycling, as well as the transportation and logistics sectors. Asserting the importance of cooperation for combating terrorism and extremist ideologies, Abdelatty expressed Egypt's readiness to share its leading experience in this regard. As for illegal migration, Abdelatty underscored the need to adopt a holistic approach to addressing the root causes of the problem, by focusing on job creation and taking into account its socio-economic dimensions. During the news briefing with his Austrian counterpart Beate Meinl-Reisinger, following their official talks today, Abdelatty said that Egypt and Austria are about to sign 10 agreements covering various cooperation areas, noting that bilateral talks also covered cooperation for exporting skilled workforce to Austria. The talks also highlighted the importance of contributing to the State's plan for building the Egyptian citizen and enhancing the skills of the Egyptian youth, as per European standards, he said. The regional situation and the Palestinian issue figured high during discussions, Abdelatty said, stressing the importance of exerting maximum pressure to reach an immediate ceasefire and detainee-release agreement, and stop Israeli attacks on innocent people, whether in the West Bank or Gaza. The meeting also covered the recent escalation in the region as regards the Iranian nuclear file, Abdelatty said, adding that Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities were condemned during the talks. Abdelatty emphasized the importance of sustaining the current ceasefire between Iran and Israel, calling for urgent efforts to resume nuclear talks between Iran and the US.
Middle East
5 days ago
- Middle East
OPEN// FM highlights Egypt's strong historical ties with Austria
CAIRO, June 28 (MENA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty highlighted on Saturday the profound historical relationship between Egypt and Austria. Abdelatty made his remarks during a press conference he held with his visiting Austrian counterpart Beate Meinl-Reisinger, following an official session of talks. The top diplomat stated that their discussions covered the close relations between Egypt and Austria, most particularly in the political, economic, trade, and educational fields. He noted that their talks reflected a shared vision for advancing cooperation to broader horizons, adding that both sides emphasized the importance of building on the current momentum in bilateral relations. Meanwhile, he announced that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a mechanism for political consultations, reflecting the two countries' mutual desire to enhance cooperation. He also mentioned that discussions tackled ways to boost economic and investment cooperation, praising the support of Austrian companies operating in Egypt and their role in boosting the country's development efforts. (MORE) J L N/R E E
Middle East
5 days ago
- Middle East
OPEN// Egypt, Austria hold political talks, sign MoU to boost relations
CAIRO, June 28 (MENA) – Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Expatriates Minister Badr Abdelatty held political consultations on Saturday with Austria's Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, with delegations from both countries in attendance. The talks focused on strengthening bilateral relations and addressing regional and international developments, said foreign ministry spokesperson Tamim Khallaf, pointing out that Abdelatty emphasized Egypt's desire to strengthen all aspects of bilateral ties and build on outcomes from recent high-level visits, including the Austrian chancellor's trip to Cairo in March 2024. He stressed the importance of expanding cooperation across various sectors—particularly economic, trade, and investment—by activating the joint committee and encouraging Austrian investments in Egypt. The ministers also discussed boosting collaboration in labor-related domains, as well as in scientific, cultural, and tourism exchange, renewable energy, and counterterrorism efforts. The consultations also addressed a range of regional and international issues of mutual concern, the spokesman said, noting that the two ministers reviewed developments related to the ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Abdelatty underscored the need to maintain the ceasefire and de-escalate tensions, directing attention to Egypt's efforts to contain the situation and promote political and diplomatic solutions. He also highlighted the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank, briefing his Austrian counterpart on Egypt's initiatives to restore a ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. The top Egyptian diplomat reiterated the need to create a political horizon for the implementation of the two-state solution, establishing a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, describing this as the only viable path to lasting peace, security, and stability in the region. Abdelatty warned of the worsening conditions in the West Bank amid continued Israeli military operations and settler violence against civilians, stressing the urgent need to halt such actions. The two ministers also exchanged views on developments in Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa. Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt's position on respecting sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of states, and the importance of supporting national institutions and pursuing political and diplomatic resolutions to regional crises. At the end of the talks, the ministers signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a political consultation mechanism between Egypt and Austria, aiming to elevate bilateral relations and expand cooperation. (MENA) R E E/
