Latest news with #hoteltech
National Post
09-07-2025
- Business
- National Post
Hotel Communication Network Named One of Canada's Top 20 Moonshot Ventures™ of 2025
Article content Keiretsu Forum Canada recognizes the world leader in AI Concierge powered hotel room tablets as a company most likely to achieve 'unicorn' status Article content OTTAWA, Ontario — Hotel Communication Network (HCN), the world leader in AI Concierge powered guestroom tablets, has been named one of Canada's Top 20 Moonshot Ventures™ of 2025, an exclusive honor presented by the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), a Government of Canada agency established to encourage innovation and support capital raising for pre IPO companies. Article content Article content The announcement follows a closed-door showcase at the NACO Summit where Canada's most promising early-stage companies were unveiled to an elite audience of investors and innovation leaders. Selected through a rigorous nomination and evaluation process, the Moonshot represents the country's boldest, most visionary ventures in sectors spanning AI, cleantech, healthtech, space, and more. HCN was nominated by Keiretsu Forum Canada, recognizing its pioneering work in revolutionizing hotel communications and enhancing the digital guest journey. Article content Leveraging advances in AI technologies, HCN developed the first human-looking AI Concierge persona capable of addressing guests individually with full voice integration and providing voice-activated access to all guest services during their stay at HCN partner hotels. To make this technological achievement even more compelling, HCN's new ad-supported revenue model makes the entire platform highly subsidized with a possible revenue share for hotels. Article content 'Being selected as one of Canada's Moonshot Ventures is a major milestone for HCN,' said Kevin Bidner, Founder and CEO of Hotel Communication Network. 'This recognition from NACO and its national network underscores our commitment to transforming the hospitality experience through cutting-edge, guest-focused technology.' Article content The Top 20 Moonshots were chosen from more than 100 nominations submitted by NACO member organizations—including Canada's top angel groups, accelerators, and incubators. From this curated pool, 23 companies were selected to present on the Moonshots Stage™ at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa during the NACO Summit 2025. The showcase offered each founder a TED-style platform to tell their story to a handpicked audience of angel investors, venture capitalists, and corporate leaders. Article content 'These founders represent the bold ideas, entrepreneurial drive, and global ambition within Canada's innovation economy,' said Claudio Rojas, CEO of NACO, in a prepared statement. 'We are proud to spotlight companies like HCN that are not only driving technological advancement but redefining what's possible in their industries.' Article content 'We're proud to have HCN in our portfolio. With strong backing from highly sophisticated investors spanning North America, Europe, and Asia, the company has built impressive momentum, positioning it to become a truly global player,' said Ozan Isinak, President of Keiretsu Forum Canada. With over $190 million collectively raised by this year's Moonshot cohort, the companies represent a cross-section of Canada's emerging innovation economy. Ventures hail from across the country, with HCN proudly representing Ontario's contribution to global travel and hospitality innovation. Article content 'We are honored that Keiretsu Forum Canada — part of the world's largest angel investor network — believes so strongly in HCN,' Bidner said. 'We are grateful that they recommended us to NACO as 'the most likely to achieve unicorn status' in the travel and media sector.' Article content Hotel Communication Network (HCN) is the hospitality industry's leading provider of in-room guest engagement and monetization platforms. Following its acquisition of Crave Interactive, HCN now operates the largest global network of smart hotel tablets and mobile solutions, seamlessly integrating guest services, hotel operations, and contextual media delivery. The combined platform delivers personalized digital concierge services, revenue-generating programmatic advertising, and strategic brand activations at scale. HCN supports major hotel brands across North America, Europe, and the Middle East, offering a turnkey solution that enhances the guest experience while unlocking new revenue streams for hotel operators. For more information, visit Article content Article content Article content Article content Media Contact: Article content Barb Worcester Article content Article content Article content
Skift
18-06-2025
- Business
- Skift
Canary Technologies Founders: What's Next After Raising $80 Million for Hotel Tech
Funding has been tight for travel tech startups, but Canary Technologies hasn't had much trouble. Venture capital funding has been a struggle for tech startups this year, but not for Canary Technologies. The hotel tech company says it wasn't actively fundraising when Brighton Park Capital approached the founders about a deal. 'We hadn't actually burned through almost any of the capital that we had raised on our last round. But the opportunity emerged,' said Canary CEO Harman Singh Narula. 'There was the right kind of investor with the right vision … so it made sense for us to move forward.' Canary recently closed a series D round of $80 million at a valuation of $600 million. Insight Partners led the company's last two rounds, all with continued investments from F-Prime Capital, Thayer Ventures, Y-Combinator, and Commerce Ventures. The platform by San Francisco-based Canary includes products for mobile check-in and checkout, upselling, guest messaging, and digital tipping. It's a type of add-on tech often integrated into a hotel's property management system. And it's an area with many startups and small companies, but few have raised this level of capital. Canary said its tech supports more than 20,000 hotels for clients including Best Western, Aimbridge Hospitality, Marriott, Wyndham, TUI Hotels & Resorts, and others. Canary has doubled revenue every year for the past few years, Narula said. There are nearly 300 employees, and the company is hiring across departments. Skift spoke with Narula and SJ Sawhney, president and co-founder, about what comes next. Doubling Down on AI Canary has released a few products powered by generative AI, meant to streamline repetitive tasks and free hotel staff. The company last year added a generative AI chatbot for guest messaging, which is meant to answer specific property questions and sell add-ons like late check-out, without input from front desk staff. A new AI voicebot product is meant to triage guest phone calls. And there's a new AI chatbot for hotel websites to drive direct bookings. The company uses multiple AI models to power its software, layering its own tech and data on top. 'It is answering 80% of guest messages. It is creating content that they don't have to come up with and write. It is, on a daily basis, making a real impact — that they're paying for,' Sawhney said. Industry leaders have said that they've found the most use for AI in operational tasks, while products in other areas have struggled to take off. Marriott, for example, is developing an AI tool to automate the tedious task for room assignment. And Hilton is exploring how to use AI to flag guests that may want room upgrades. A New Hotel Tech System Canary's founders want hoteliers to see the emerging guest management system – 'GMS' in the industry – as a piece of tech that they can't go without, taking a similar trajectory as the reservation management system. 'I think the GMS is certainly a category that — we're hearing a lot from hoteliers — has been this part of the tech stack that has come into focus,' Narula said. Hotels in North America have led adoption, and now the company wants to continue expanding globally. 'We're also seeing globally, a lot of what we think of as mid-market type brands portfolios really stepping up and having a lot of demand around this as well,' Narula said. The company has made an effort over the past year to localize its service in different geographic markets. In France, for example, the dashboard is in French and customer service representatives speak French. 'The investment last year was a big catalyst for all of our localization efforts to achieve that goal,' Sawhney said. Canary has predominantly grown organically, not via M&A, but Narula said that could change. 'There may be some opportunities that emerge that might make sense — where it helps service or provide specific needs to our customers — where we can help fill those gaps,' Narula said.
Travel Daily News
11-06-2025
- Business
- Travel Daily News
BWH Hotels GB invests in new website
BWH Hotels GB launches streamlined website to boost direct bookings, reduce OTA reliance, and enhance digital tools for 230+ UK hoteliers. BWH Hotels GB is launching a faster, simpler website as part of a push to help its partners minimise reliance on OTAs. This will impact more than 230 independent hoteliers across the UK. The fully redesigned website is part of plans to improve digital infrastructure and will deliver faster load times, a simplified booking journey and improved image and content functionality. It will also introduce tools to support marketing activity at both hotel and regional level, with future plans to integrate AI. The move follows several years of development and testing and forms part of BWH's long-term digital investment strategy. The platform is underpinned by cloud-based technology, with a focus on improving the guest experience while streamlining operational processes for hotel teams. Chris Bowling, Head of Digital and Consumer Marketing at BWH Hotels GB, said: 'The launch of this new website will provide independent hoteliers with the tools they need to compete with the big players, for advanced tech without the complexity. This launch has been years in the making, with vigorous testing to ensure every part of the journey is optimised and efficient. Our team is here to make sure the tech works for our hoteliers, not the other way around. We are of course invested in helping our members thrive – by taking the pressure off them and providing ongoing expertise that makes their digital presence stronger, more streamlined and ultimately more profitable.' BWH Hotels GB is forecasting improvements in conversion rates and organic traffic as a result of the rebuild, as well as a reduction in OTA dependency. This upgrade will impact all BWH hoteliers, including Angela Burns, CEO of Webb Hotel Group Ltd and owner of three BWH hotels including Moor Hall Hotel & Spa, BW Premier Collection by Best Western in Sutton Coldfield Angela Burns said: 'We've been working with BWH Hotels since its inception more than 50 years ago and they've always been a fantastic partner – giving us the freedom to run our businesses while providing the right support. 'With technology evolving so quickly in the industry, it's great to see BWH focusing on solutions that not only boost our direct bookings and reduce our reliance on OTAs, but also deliver what our guests actually care about. 'As a hotel, images are key, but large files can slow down website speeds. This new website launch from BWH provides us with a central hub that lets our properties shine without compromising loading speeds, ensuring guests have the best online experience that mirrors the level of care they receive when they arrive.' Worldwide, BWH Hotels operates out of more than 100 countries with 4,200 hotels and 60 million rewards members which means that partner hotels have the potential to significantly increase their number of overseas guests. BWH Hotels GB, which represents Great Britain's largest group of independent hotels, including Best Western and WorldHotels, allows hoteliers to enjoy global reach without sacrificing their individuality.
Travel Daily News
06-06-2025
- Business
- Travel Daily News
Zaplox secures first agreement for new produ
At the beginning of 2025, Zaplox announced the launch of a new product that enables hotels to offer their guests a seamless digital journey – without requiring them to download an app. The first agreement has now been signed with Google . Zaplox has signed an agreement with Google for its short-term employee accommodations. The agreement covers the Zaplox Web App, which allows guests to manage check-in and check-out, make payments, and get mobile keys directly into their digital wallets – without downloading a mobile app. 'Zaplox has had the privilege of partnering with Google since 2022, including on mobile keys in Google Wallet. We are, of course, very proud that Google is now our first customer to offer our Zaplox Web App to their guests. This not only confirms that we continue to be at the forefront of technology, but also that our existing customers have growing confidence in us,' says Tess Mattisson, President and CEO of Zaplox. The Zaplox Web App is a web-based solution for check-in and check-out, payments, and digital wallet keys. The design is customized to match each hotel's brand and is suitable for hotels with wallet-compatible locks. 'As a growth company, being able to secure agreements for new products so soon after launch is an important confirmation that our development strategy – focused on customer needs – is the right one, and that we are investing in products and services that have a direct impact on our revenue,' Mattisson concludes.
Zawya
03-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Smart Stays: How tech is unlocking the future of travel?
Once a travel essential, the humble hotel keycard – that trusty sliver of plastic is fast becoming yesterday's news. For decades, it was your ticket to a good night's sleep and a hot shower, but in an age of instant everything, even keycards are getting left behind. As today's travellers demand more convenience, tighter security, and frictionless experiences, hotels around the world are ditching the old-school swipe in favour of smarter, sleeker tech. One of the driving forces behind this shift is the rise of mobile check-ins and digital keys, which allow guests to bypass the front desk entirely and use their smartphones to unlock their rooms. But as many hotel experts point out, it's not just about eliminating the check-in line; it's also about solving some of the age-old frustrations that come with using keycards. The Traditional Keycard Dilemma It's a scenario every traveller knows: you're jet-lagged, hauling bags, and dreaming of a hot shower but your hotel keycard refuses to work. Instant frustration. The culprit? More often than not, it's your smartphone. When you slide your keycard next to your phone, the magnetic fields can zap the data on the strip, leaving you locked out in the hallway. But phones aren't the only offenders. Credit cards, debit cards and even keychains can mess with your keycard. The result? A corrupted strip and a useless piece of plastic. Heat, moisture, and constant wear and tear only make things worse. Drop your card in a damp beach bag or sweaty pocket, and you're basically asking for trouble. Forget it in your room or lose it while out exploring, you have to head back to reception to ask for another one. Keycards may have served us well, but in a world of smarter tech and higher expectations, they're starting to feel more like a travel nuisance than a convenience. Digital Innovation Considering these recurring frustrations, hotel brands are embracing digital solutions to provide guests with a more reliable and seamless experience. While some properties are turning to digital room keys that can be accessed via smartphones, others, like the all-inclusive hospitality brand Club Med, are introducing digital wristbands as a more robust alternative to the traditional room key. Club Med's approach to this problem is grounded in a desire to offer guests a hassle-free and secure way to access their rooms, participate in activities, and even make purchases on property. The digital wristband is a key innovation in this transition, designed to be durable, waterproof, and capable of avoiding the common pitfalls associated with traditional keycards. Club Med's Managing Director, Olivier Perrilat-Piratoine, explained that with Club Med's new digital wristbands, guests can not only unlock their rooms but also pay for meals, shop for souvenirs, and even book activities, all without ever needing to touch a physical card. By shifting to a more integrated system, the brand is streamlining the guest experience and ensuring that the hassle of a malfunctioning keycard becomes a thing of the past. Why the Shift Matters This tech shift isn't just about ditching plastic – it's about security and next-level personalisation. Mobile keys and digital wristbands are encrypted and tied directly to your personal profile. Unlike old-school keycards, they're way harder to lose, clone, or misuse. But here's where it really gets smart: these tools don't just open doors. They open up your entire stay. With a tap on your phone or flick of a wristband, you can book a spa treatment, reserve dinner, adjust your room's temperature. All done in real time and tailored to you. It's seamless, it's slick, and it makes guests feel seen. That kind of personal touch? It builds loyalty and keeps people coming back. A Tech-Driven Revolution From self-check-ins to digital room keys, the shift away from traditional keycards is more than just a trend. It's a response to the changing expectations of modern travellers, offering a more streamlined, secure, and personalised stay. And for those who've experienced the frustration of keycards that fail at the worst possible moment, it's easy to see why these digital alternatives are being welcomed. While Club Med is leading the charge with its digital wristbands, this shift is part of a larger trend sweeping the hospitality industry. Many hotels are now incorporating smart tech into their rooms, such as voice-activated assistants, smart thermostats, and AI-powered concierges. These innovations help hoteliers cater to the growing demand for seamless, tech-driven experiences. As the hospitality industry continues to embrace new technologies, the days of fumbling for a keycard or dealing with demagnetised cards may soon be behind us and the future of hotel room access is shaping up to be much more secure, efficient, and seamless. And all without a key in sight.
