Hotelhero GmbH

Hotelhero GmbH, established in Berlin in 2017, operated as a specialized research platform for hotel technology. The company was founded by Julien Schmit, Thibault Gence, and Florian Montag, all graduates of the École Hoteliere de Lausanne. Their shared background in hospitality spurred the creation of a platform designed to address the technology gap between hotels and software vendors.

The firm's core business was a B2B platform catering to independent hoteliers. It functioned as a matchmaking and evaluation tool, enabling hotels to discover, compare, and select software solutions tailored to their specific needs. The platform's recommendation engine utilized market share data, property characteristics, and user-generated reviews to personalize the search process for hotel IT. This service aimed to simplify the digitalization process for an often-fragmented market.

Significant milestones for the company include its entry into the UK market in 2018 and participation in the Metro Techstars accelerator program that same year, which helped refine its business model. The company secured $120K in funding from investors including LeadX Capital Partners and Techstars. On June 29, 2021, Hotelhero was acquired by apaleo, an API-first hospitality platform. Following the acquisition, the Hotelhero founders and their team joined apaleo to help develop its app ecosystem and build out a more integrated app store for accommodation providers, aligning with their original vision of creating seamless connectivity in hotel technology.

Keywords: hotel technology, hospitality software, hotel IT, B2B platform, SaaS discovery, hotel software review, hotel software recommendation, property technology, hotel digitalization, independent hotels, hotel tech marketplace, apaleo, Florian Montag, Julien Schmit, Thibault Gence, hospitality graduates, École Hoteliere de Lausanne, hotel software selection, hotel automation, hospitality tech acquisition