Seattle-based digital marketing SaaS provider buuteeq has closed a $10 million investment round co-led by Madrona Venture Group and expense management solution provider Concur.
This is an interesting move for both buuteeq and Concur, who purchased TripIt nearly 2 years ago.
For buuteeq, the infusion positions itself to take advantage of growth opportunities while simultaneously allowing it to test drive a potential long-term relationship that could lead to a buyout down the line.
Buuteeq also says that it will use the cash to expand its reach beyond the 4,000 hotels currently using their cloud-based digital marketing solutions, especially looking at Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The platform claims to have generated 30 million customer impressions and 2 million reservation inquiries across Web, mobile and social since their launch, beating Look-to-Book benchmarks by up to 20 times.
Buuteeq CEO Forest Key mentioned these in-house growth numbers in the investment announcement:
“In our first 18 months in market we’ve already helped nearly 4,000 properties expand their reach and marketing capabilities online: resorts, luxury boutiques, major hotel flag franchisees, independents, and inn and B&B owners have all embraced our product. Our innovative software improves occupancy rates while minimizing costs and is the solution that hoteliers have been waiting for. By helping hotels with their digital marketing we improve the discovery and booking experience for millions of guests worldwide which is our central passion as a company.”
For Concur, the move gives it a toehold in a peripheral market that would allow it to more fully integrate smaller inns, boutiques and independent hotels into its travel expense management product.
Concur will be able to provide vetted lodging for their corporate customers, while also being able to integrate these smaller properties into the TripIt eco-system for travelers seeking accommodation options beyond the traditional big players.
In the announcement, Concur CEO Steve Singh explained the value of the investment to his company:
“An integral component of our vision for the Concur T&E Cloud is to drive innovation throughout the entire travel eco-system. In partnership with buuteeq, we can help hotels of all sizes, anywhere in the world reach their customers. This drives ongoing benefits for our corporate clients, who want to deliver the broadest array of corporate approved choices to their business travelers. It’s through the creativity and entrepreneurship of smart companies like buuteeq that these next-generation services will be developed and delivered through the Concur T&E Cloud.”
This brings the total amount raised by buuteeq to $17 million, and introduces new members to the buuteeq board of directors including, Concur CEO, Steve Singh and Madrona Partner, Tim Porter.