Nor1, the provider of upsell technologies to the hotel industry, has closed a Series B round of $9 million led by Seattle-based Concur.
Nor1's technology focuses on increasing revenue for hotels through increasing their Average Daily Rate via higher prices and upsells, rather than an increase in occupancy.
The company plans to use the additional funding for "continued growth through product innovation and market expansion."
In the release announcing the investment, Nor1 co-founders Art Norins and Jason Bryant spoke about the synergies created through the partnership.
"This latest round of investment is evidence of Nor1’s outstanding progress in business development and technological advancement.
These new funds will provide an even stronger foundation as we accelerate the growth of our products and distribution. Concur is an excellent partner for us with a great track record. We’re excited to see what we can do together.
Concur's EVP of Corporate Strategy highlighted the background behind the strategy of the investment, part of their $150 million Perfect Trip Initiative.
“Concur’s vision for The Perfect Trip is built on creating a travel ecosystem that dynamically responds to the needs of business travelers, the companies that they work for and the suppliers that serve them.
Entrepreneurs like Nor1 are developing the next set of innovations that will ultimately deliver an even better travel experience to our users. Through the power of the Concur T&E Cloud, we’re bringing the best of these innovations together to revolutionize business travel and deliver greater value to corporate clients, suppliers and travelers alike.”
Concur will be integrating Nor1's flagship product, eStandbyUpgrade, into its core offering. This will make hotel upsell offers available to Concur's business travel customers, providing not only a seamless way for the hotels to increase revenue but also an equally seamless way for business travelers to upgrade their experience - and track any changes directly to their expense reports.
Not surprisingly, eStandbyUpgrade will also be integrated into TripIt, where users can request eStandyUpgrades from the thousands of partner hotels.
This investment continues Concur's aggressive pursuit of strategic partnerships. Most famously, Concur purchased TripIt for $82 million in January 2011. Following that investment, Concur has been on a deal-making binge, co-investing $10 million in buuteeq, investing an undisclosed sum in Room 77, and launching a $150 million fund to invest in travel startups called the Perfect Trip Initiative.
Concur is clearly angling to be at the center of the travel planning, aggregating, and reporting ecosystem, while also looking to be a fundamental part of the background technologies that help hotels increase revenue through effective marketing (buuteeq) and technology (Nor1).