Last-minute mobile-only hotel booking service Hot Hotels has received a seed investment from Axon Partners Group.
Prior to the injection of capital, the Spain-based company had received some financial support from Bolt Accelerator, Intelectium Business Acceleration, and ENISA public fund.
Hot Hotels says it will use the new fund to expand throughout Latin America and it will continue to increase its customer base in Europe.
CEO Conor O´Connor says:
"With this investment by Axon, we now have the firepower to establish clear water between ourselves and our competitors in Europe.
"With the expertise of Axon's investment team, as well as its global network of offices, Axon provides a base to accelerate our roll-out in fast growing Latin America."
The company says it has had inquiry from third party travel service providers to access its inventory of same day mobile-only hotel rooms. The company is running some pilot initiatives to take it to the next level.
Connor adds:
"Our backend has been designed for this from the beginning but how soon we will become a marketplace for same day mobile only hotel bookings will depend on the results of these pilots."
In September 2013, Hot Hotels acquired its local competitor ReallyLateBooking in an effort to strengthen its Europe presence. However, Hot Hotel says it doesn't have any plans to acquire any company soon, and it wants to grow organically.
When asked Conor about the company's plans to expand its service to India (with Axon having an India-presence), he says:
"Our priorities now are Europe and Latin America. Our interest in India predates the investment by Axon. There are some really interesting companies in India with whom we could partner and whom we continue to talk with."
Founded in January 2012, currently, the company has about 4,000 bookable same day mobile-only hotels across 257 cities in 43 countries including Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Israel.
In Asia, the company has hotel inventories from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. And, most of the bookings in these regions still come from people who have travelled from Europe and are aware of the brand.