STARTUP STAGE: Jurny provides contactless tech solutions for hotels and short-term rentals

Jurny

Jurny provides independent hotels and short-term rental apartments with turnkey management services that enable a contactless experience from check-in to check out

The company launched in June, has raised more than $4.9 million and has 370 units on its platform and more than 2,500 additional units in the pipeline.

 

What is your 30-second pitch to investors?

Jurny is a hospitality tech company offering SaaS-based management solutions that enable an industry-first fully automated accommodations experience from check-in to check out for guests, resulting in seamless operations and increased profits for owners. 

Describe both the business and technology aspects of your startup.

At Jurny, we have developed a formula designed to address the barriers that prevent the hospitality sector, particularly the hotel and short-term rental industry, from implementing technology solutions and streamlining operations to increase profit margins and weather market fluctuations. 

Rather than offering a master lease, we provide hotel and multi-family building owners a turnkey management service that enables a technology-enhanced and contactless experience from check-in to check out. The company’s vertically integrated model is structured to reduce overhead, address redundancies and increase profits for stakeholders. The end-to-end offering includes interior design, sourcing and installation, marketing and photography, cleaning management, customer support and security for a performance-based fee.

Jurny’s goal is to be a long-term partner and strategic resource for the property owner’s existing real estate, as well as a key asset for expansion.

Give us your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the company.

• Strengths - Our operating model is extremely lean and efficient to drive higher profits and lower costs, positively impacting the bottom line. Additionally, our patent-pending technology, scalability, speed to go live and all of our combined offerings, including branding and dynamic pricing, allow Jurny to offer an industry-first product that puts the company in a net advantage position.
• Weaknesses - Our product is new and revolutionary, which makes a portion of the market still hesitant and unable to fully understand its benefits. 
• Opportunities - There are more than eight million independent hotel units worldwide and 4.2 million multi-family apartments just in the United States; Our product and services enable us to cater to small and boutique hotels and multi-family buildings that may not have the financial clout of larger brands to implement new technologies or the critical mass to offset high operation and administrative expenses. This is a revolutionary value proposition under normal conditions, but during a pandemic, its value is exponential, making it a much-needed solution on the market for many hotels and short-term rental apartments.
• Threats - Our biggest threat is the hesitancy to adopt new technologies in the industry; Additionally, many hotels who are currently struggling to survive in the current climate may be afraid to invest in new technologies (even though Jurny fronts the cost of the investment). 

What are the travel pain points you are trying to alleviate from both the customer and the industry perspective?

Our technology was engineered to address two of the biggest issues facing the hospitality industry - profitability and efficiency. Because of the comparatively high levels of personal service offerings, hotels, particularly boutique hotels, are more costly to run and produce relatively low-profit margins compared to industry-wide benchmarks. 

From the guest standpoint, the hospitality industry has been one of the slowest adopters of technology, limiting its efficiency and ability to accommodate the “on-demand” generation. From booking reservations to waiting in line to check-in, the whole experience can be time-consuming and inefficient (and exasperating after a long day’s travel). The new generation of travelers is looking for a service that seamlessly puts them inside their room within minutes of arrival.

So you've got the product, now how will you get lots of customers?

Prior to the pandemic, there was a huge demand for a convenient, instant way to travel, driven by the shifts impacting nearly every industry from music and food to transportation toward on-demand services. The current situation has simply accelerated this shift and created an even higher demand. Additionally, our business model, pricing structure and AI algorithms enable us to offer a higher quality product for a lower cost. The new generation of travelers isn’t as brand loyal as their predecessor; they want the best experience for the best price, and we are positioned to deliver. 

Tell us what process you've gone through to establish a genuine need for your company and the size of the addressable market.

The hospitality industry has always been vulnerable to market fluctuations, including seasonal downturns, staff turnover and price competition. There are more than eight million independent hotel rooms worldwide and millions of short-term rental units, and we’ve developed a solution designed to help the industry address redundancies, reduce costs and increase profits. On average, Jurny reduces overhead by nearly 70% and increases profits to 40% or more.

How and when will you make money?

Our business model and pricing structure have enabled the company to generate revenue almost immediately. Our asset-light management model, lean operations and focus on technology has resulted in a sustainable and scalable model even during the worst times. The company has the ability to turn a profit at any time but has chosen to scale and grow instead with a plan to raise additional capital in the near future.

What are the backgrounds and previous achievements of the founding team?

Luca Zambello, the co-founder and CEO of Jurny, has successfully launched several companies in the hospitality space and advised startups and brands in the digital advertising and marketing space for more than a decade. Zambello first discovered his aptitude for building businesses at the age of 17, when he organized his hometown’s biggest local event in Mantua, Italy, and doubled its size three years in a row to generate over a quarter of a million euros in annual revenue. In 2009, Luca relocated to Los Angeles and launched one of the first professionally operated Airbnb vacation rental companies, becoming one of the youngest operators in the short-term rental industry. Within two years, Luca was generating over $1 million a year in bookings with a single employee.

David Phillips, the co-founder and president of Jurny, has over 10 years of sales, marketing and business development experience. In his early 20s, he was responsible for building global brands that amassed tens of millions in sales and entered negotiations for major entertainment production deals. David has managed over $75 million in licensed consumer product sales over the course of his career.

Together, Luca and David bootstrapped Jurny before raising more than $4.9 million in funding to build technology and develop a complex infrastructure. The company now operates in five markets with 370 units on its platform and more than 2,500 additional units in the pipeline.

How have you addressed diversity and inclusion within your business?

Our team is composed of talented individuals of diverse backgrounds, races, religions, genders, ages, etc. Our commitment to inclusion and attracting gifted individuals of all backgrounds brings unique perspectives to our company culture and ultimately makes our team more successful.

What's been the most difficult part of founding the business so far?

One of the most difficult parts of founding the company was going against the market. We had the opportunity to grow rapidly using a traditional master lease model but decided to go against the trend and invest in technology instead. And then, we had to prove to advisors and investors why our model was better than the current industry norm. However, we knew this decision would be more challenging in the short-term but position our company for longevity in the long term and give us a massive competitive advantage.

Generally, travel startups face a fairly tough time making an impact - so why are you going to be one of lucky ones?

As mentioned earlier, the new generation of travelers isn’t as brand loyal as their predecessors; they value the experience over luxury while being very price sensitive. With that in mind and given that hospitality hasn't really adapted to this new trend, we simply believe that we have the best product on the market for this new way of travel.

The Jurny app makes it the most efficient and convenient way to book, check-in and control the entire stay experience with virtual concierge services, on-demand cleaning and temperature control in one central location. Our unique design gives you a top Airbnb-like experience with the same quality of a high-end hotel, while our tech allows us to offer a superior service at a very competitive price.

Additionally, the market has validated all of our assumptions, making Jurny one of the best performing hospitality companies during this pandemic.

A year from now, what state do you think your startup will be in?

This year, we grew over 200% and anticipate continuing this pace into next year to further expand to new markets in the U.S. and internationally with thousands of units under our brand.

What is your end-game? (Going public, acquisition, growing and staying private, etc.)

Ultimately, we want to go public and be the leading hospitality technology provider worldwide.