Image: Janon Kas/Shutterstock
Roomex aims to make it easier for companies to manage their corporate travel, from booking to billing.
Dublin-headquartered business travel player Roomex has raised €8m in a Series A round led by Draper Esprit.
The funding round was supported by existing shareholders Frontline Ventures and Harmony Capital.
‘We’re really only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can achieve in the global travel industry market, which is worth over €1.3trn per year’
– JACK DONAGHY
Co-founded by CEO Jack Donaghy and CTO Karl Glennon, Roomex allows businesses to book hotel rooms globally through its platform, enabling its clients to save time and money by centralising all bookings and invoices in one account.
Focused initially on Ireland, Roomex has now grown to cover global travel markets, and customers now include Musgrave, Dairygold, Kepak, Mitsubishi and Müller.
Roomex to improve
The global corporate travel market has surpassed the €1trn-a-year mark, yet the process of booking travel remains manual, time-consuming and expensive for small and medium-sized companies.
“Despite the innovation we have seen across consumer travel, managing business travel remains a real pain point for most businesses,” explained Nicola McClafferty, investment director at Draper Esprit.
“Companies either manage the process manually or outsource to a service-led travel agent, which is inefficient and expensive. Roomex is transforming this market, providing SMEs with a one-stop travel management platform, delivering ease and efficiency from booking to billing. We are incredibly excited to be working with Jack and the team as they continue to grow the business in the coming years.”
Currently, 99pc of all Roomex’s bookings are processed without any human intervention. Clients simply log in to their account and book directly.
With competitive live rates at every hotel in the world, the company is now serving more than 50,000 business travellers from across the UK and Ireland.
“We’re really only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can achieve in the global travel industry market, which is worth over €1.3trn per year,” said Donaghy.
“We’re thrilled to be working with the team at Draper Esprit who bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise, and are looking forward to building on the strong momentum we have generated in recent years.”
Donaghy said the round will be used to continue to develop a market-leading booking platform and drive expansion into new markets.
He said that with deep experience in the hotel booking market over the past 10 years, the team is now scaling up and Roomex has more than doubled the size of its workforce in the past 18 months.
