Amsterdam-based Drop.in, a startup that offers a web-based guest app for hotels to provide a seamless, autonomous guest experience, announced that it has raised a pre-Seed round of funding. The amount raised in this round has not been disclosed.
The investment came from 3XA, ASIF Ventures, Graduate Entrepreneur, and private investors.
The Dutch hospitality startup says it will use the funds to accelerate its product development, add more integrations with existing hotel systems, and expand its customer base outside of the Netherlands.
Pain point of the hospitality industry
Drop.in founders Derek de Jonge van Zwijnsbergen and Tjibbe Beckers met during an incubation programme in Amsterdam and noticed a huge problem in the hotel industry. Because of growing labour shortages, hotels are under pressure to provide the same level of service with fewer employees. Also, outdated software that hotel staff frequently use are not designed to provide visitors with an autonomous, seamless, or digital experience.
Since the introduction of house-sharing platforms, a business that was formerly high touch is now becoming more autonomous and self-service oriented. A recent study shows that 71 per cent of guests would rather stay at a hotel with self-service technology to manage their stay than rely solely on staff members.
Initially, hotels weren’t very concerned about providing digital guest journeys. However, Covid-19 altered the industry in 2020. Digital guest solutions were made possible by the pandemic and hotels’ attitudes about digitisation changed as a result.
Hotels now invest in technology that delivers autonomous guest journeys and relieves staff members’ workloads to address personnel shortages and adapt to the changing guest profile. Hotels are eager to innovate, but they lack the funding to create their own systems that are as high-quality as those of the greatest hotel brands in the world.
The new generation of travellers expects a flawless stay, and hotels want to relieve staff members of as much work as they can. And this is where Drop.in looks to make a difference.
Streamline your staff operations and service guests automatically
Founded in late 2021 by Derek de Jonge van Zwijnsbergen and Tjibbe Beckers, Drop.in enables hotels to design an autonomous guest experience by giving them access to additional virtual staff members on demand.
The company’s app is web-based, branded in the style of the hotel, and creates a seamless experience that takes pressure off staff members and services guests through three main functionalities:
- Online check-in & check-out
- Mobile room key for keyless entry
- Digital concierge for ordering products, accessing information and reserving activities
Amsterdam-based Conscious Hotels, a leader in hotel industry innovation, joined Drop.in as a launching partner earlier this year. Along with expanding in the Dutch market, the founders of Drop.in want to expand the company internationally and have already begun onboarding their first hotels from Switzerland and Austria.
