Hello Scout is a San Francisco startup whose mobile, chat-based travel assistant allows guests at boutique and lifestyle hotels to message on-demand with local assistants.
Guests receive an email upon confirming their reservation at a partner hotel and are invited to download the app. They can choose to communicate with their local expert via SMS or in the app itself.
What problem does your business solve?
Unlike in-lobby concierges, Hello Scout is available to guests even when they aren’t in the hotel — and our team of trained locals respond instantly to help with anything from dinner reservations to tour bookings.
Team:
We’re a team of five: David Temple (co-founder and CEO), Matt Sperling (co-founder and Product), Mert Akanay (iOS Engineer), Jordan Bailey (Marketing), and Andy Wall (Senior Software Engineer).
Funding arrangements?
We raised a seed round in August 2015 from some great investors, including Launch Fund, Slow Ventures, Social + Capital, and Click Ventures.
Revenue model?
Unlike many concierges who manage a shady network of commissions, our Scouts are paid a flat rate. We make money from a transparent service fee on transactions that we book for the guest.
Why do you think the pain point you’re solving is painful enough that customers are willing to pay for your solution?
Hello Scout is free for independent and boutique hotels who cater to our demographic of traveler (tech-forward travelers seeking unique and spontaneous experiences).
We initially expected that some guests would circumvent our booking fee, but we actually haven’t run into that at all. We’ve found that the ease of booking activities via text outweighs the small additional cost.
External validation?
We went through Jason Calacanis’s Launch Incubator and came in 1st place at the Demo Day. It’s a fantastic program — if you’re a founder, we definitely recommend you apply.
We’ve intentionally kept our beta program small, but we’ve seen fantastic results from our early partnership with Hotel Zetta in San Francisco — almost 80% of guests who use the service say they’re more likely to rebook at the hotel. We have several other boutique properties rolling out in the next few weeks (including another Viceroy property).
Video pitch:
Here's Hello Scout's one-minute pitch.
Tnooz view:
Travelers like chat-style communication, and hotels are trying to figure out various ways to jump on the trend. Concierge-style advice is one approach, and Hotel Scout's model might catch fire.
But the startup faces competitors. Services that take a similar approach include Marriott's "ask anything" mobile requests feature on its app for many properties and HotelTonight's Aces program.
To get ahead, Hotel Scout must continue to focus on a few top priorities. It may help if its management sets and adjusts strategic objectives three or four times a year to make sure its KPIs are visible and understood by its team.