The hospitality industry is back. And it presents an opportunity for tech startups to not only help streamline hotel operations, but also focus on ways to improve the guest experience.
“Today’s primary traveler was born into an age when they are very tech-savvy,” said Harman Singh Narula, co-founder and CEO of Canary Technologies. “They have expectations. For example, they want to text the front desk instead of answering the phone.”
And with other options like Airbnb becoming available, hotels are facing competition in the market. Narula said they were facing “really great competition in technology” and hotels needed to address that.
Narula started Canary Technologies with his long-time friend SJ Sawhney to provide hotels with technology to help them deliver better, technology-enhanced guest experiences. Narula previously worked at Starwood Hotels & Resorts and as a management consultant at Bain & Company. As president of the company, Sawhney led product and technology at Stayful, an independent boutique hotel booking platform founded by the former President of Hotels.com.
They were part of Y Combinator's summer 2018 cohort, and at the time were developing software to handle offline booking processes and eliminate paper contracts.
Today, the hotel guest management technology company's platform digitizes the hotel guest journey from reservation to checkout, with tools that manage mobile check-in/check-out, registration, upsells, guest messaging, and digital tips.
This is a concept that has become popular. Canary currently works with over 20,000 hoteliers globally across brands such as Marriott International, Four Seasons, Choice Hotels, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Rosewood and Intercontinental Hotel Group.
The company has also grown over the past few years as hotels have deployed additional Canary tools. Narula said the company has grown by more than 100% in terms of revenue since 2022.
Venture capital investors are paying attention. Last March, hotel SaaS startup Mews raised $110 million at a $1.2 billion valuation to help hotels better manage their IT. There's also Life House, which provides software for hotel operators and owners, and last raised $60 million in 2021.
Now it's Canary Technologies' turn. The company closed $50 million in Series C funding to support large-scale deployment of its guest-oriented AI technology.
The funding, led by Insight Partners, was preempted by internal investors, Narula said. Narula did not provide a specific valuation, but said the valuation has more than doubled since the company's $30 million Series B round in 2022. Insight also led that round.
In addition to Insight Partners, existing investors F-Prime Capital, Thayer Ventures, Y Combinator, and Commerce Ventures joined the Series C round. This new investment brings Canary's total funds raised to date to nearly $100 million.
“During a year that has been difficult for growth and execution in the technology ecosystem, we have seen Canary thrive and exceed its ambitious goals, which has prompted us to redouble our efforts,” Thomas Krane, managing director at Insight Partners, said in a statement. “He said. “We continue to be impressed by the tenacity and ability of Harman, SJ and the team to deliver best-in-class solutions to hoteliers’ most needed needs and are honored to be a part of the company’s journey.”
