Vikey, a startup that enables the self check-in for accommodation facilities, has closed a new investment round of 800 thousand euros, with the participation of CDP Venture Capital Sgr - National Innovation Fund - through the AccelerOra! Program of the Accelerators Fund - Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), LVenture Group and other business angels. With this new capital increase, the startup's total funding rises to 1.6 million euros.
Vikey has developed a combined hardware / software solution for hotels and apartments intended for hospitality use, to open the accommodation’s door directly via smartphone. Their system manages all aspects of check-in and check-out, including sending documents and paying for upselling services. Thanks to Vikey, hosts can accept all reservations (even last minute), increasing the occupancy rate, while savings time and costs, if compared to traditional check-in procedure.
Although the negative impact of the pandemic on the entire tourism sector, Vikey was able to intercept the need of adapting the accommodation offer to the post-Covid-19 world. The travel marketing company Oracle and Skift has recently study carried an international study that highlights how the adoption of new technologies - specifically contactless solutions for check-in - has proved to be a key factor to restart the industry. As a matter of fact, Vikey has recently signed national and international partnerships with major players in the hotel and alternative hospitality sectors, such as Altido (owner of 1,800 real estate properties, which is now affiliated with Vikey in 25 European cities).
"The Vikey team has shown excellent adaptive skills, but above all intuition and creativity, seizing new market opportunities and developing a product that truly makes the difference for tourists and hosts, exceptionally affected by the consequences of the pandemic - comments Stefano Molino, Head of the Accelerators Fund of CDP Venture Capital Sgr - We are thrilled to support, through the AccelerOra program those promising early-stage companies, helping them to realize their projects even in challenging scenarios such as this one".
“Vikey provides the tourism sector a suitable solution, to face the unavoidable process of renewal after the pandemic. Today, the investment made by IAG members in a high-tech company also is a result of our commitment to seed the innovation ecosystem by consolidating successful entrepreneurial teams, such as Vikey, in order to relaunch the post-Covid economy”, said Antonio Leone, President of Italian Angels for Growth.
"We have proudly invested in Vikey with a second round because we know the team is skilled and their vision is able to intercept new needs, thanks to their technological masterplan: in short, we are confident about their future", said Valerio Caracciolo, Champion IAG and Italian Vice President Angels for Growth.
“Vikey has successfully anticipated market changes and reacted accordingly, even among difficulties. The new investment round will support the startup in its international expansion path, thanks to many important partners in our network, such as CDP Venture Capital Sgr and IAG. This an important signal for the Italian innovation ecosystem: resilient, scale-up driven teams like Vikey’s are the future of our entrepreneurial fabric", said Luigi Capello, CEO of LVenture Group.
“This new round of investment is an important result for Vikey and means investors truly believes in our project. Our solution has experienced a significant growth lately, considering that contactless services are more and more requested in the hotel industry and other sectors as well. This capital rise is a fundamental step to keep innovating and scale-up in a market that is transforming at a very high pace", said Luca Bernardoni, CEO of Vikey.