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US: Besty AI, an AI messaging solution for short-term rentals and hotels, has announced that it has raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round to accelerate its expansion strategy.
The round was led by early stage venture capital firms Bungalow Capital and Ridge Ventures, and Alchemist Accelerator CEO Ravi Belani.
Since the startup’s beta launch in October last year, Besty AI has grown from 0 to 250 paying customers, with an average monthly revenue growth of 36 per cent since its inception. Its autopilot AI messaging and upselling features are now active on more than 15,000 properties across 25+ countries.
Noting early signs of product-market fit, Besty AI decided to partner with top-tier venture capitalists who shared the startup’s vision for artificial intelligence’s [AI] “transformative” impact on hospitality property management.
With the capital raise, Besty AI’s primary focus is on expanding its engineering team to “execute a highly ambitious product roadmap that will further automate and simplify hospitality property management”. In order to establish itself as a leading player in the hospitality category, the startup wants to go beyond scratching the surface of what large language models [LLMs] can achieve in tandem with humans.
Sam Dundas, co-founder of Besty AI, said: “The way I see it, the advent of ChatGPT has introduced a new category of vendors to our industry. Just as price optimisation apps became essential a decade ago, AI assistants are set to become indispensable tools for operators aiming to maximise guest satisfaction and revenue.”
To date, the company has worked with more than 200 operators worldwide to automate their short-term rental operations with AI, including Host & Stay, Wynwood House, Local Vacation Rentals, Beachside VR, CAPITALIA and BeachBox Vacation Rentals. Its software partners also include Guesty, Hostaway, OwnerRez, Hostfully, Uplisting and Lodgify.
Dundas previously spoke on a ‘Pitch to Paul’ Dragons’ Den / Shark Tank-style webinar in March, which saw three startups pitch for potential investment – watch the recording at this link.
