HRS Acquires conichi to Enhance Corporate Hotel Payment Solutions
The HRS Group, a Global Hotel Solutions end to end technology provider in business travel, announced the acquisition of startup conichi (legally “Hotel Beacons GmbH”) and will integrate their technology into the HRS payment product platform. The Berlin startup, launched in 2014, had previously operated independently. HRS has now acquired all remaining conichi shares, and this transaction will make the brand and all conichi employees an integral part of the HRS Group.
When conichi launched, founders Maximilian Waldmann and Frederic Haitz concentrated on digitizing the hotel check-in and check-out process and streamlining it. Their innovative approach resonated in the global corporate travel industry, as best illustrated by conichi’s winning of Business Travel News’ Innovate competition in 2016. Companies like Siemens, Telekom and Volkswagen use conichi’s smarthotel services to optimize their travelers’ hotel stays. With that as conichi’s foundation, the startup focused in recent years on developing an industry-leading standard for corporate hotel check-in/outs processes at the front desk – a solution that serves the needs of corporate hotel programs and hotels.
HRS will continue to use the conichi technology for the automation of check-in/out processes. Conichi in turn will become an integral part of a new HRS business division focusing on payment. HRS will use conichi's technological know-how to further leverage its corporate payment solutions to the next level. Conichi’s employees, including Mr. Waldmann and Mr. Haitz, will work jointly with their new HRS colleagues to develop the next generation of data-driven, automated payment technologies. HRS is creating a scalable, globally-accepted payment solution that goes far beyond the actual transaction, delivering incremental savings and process efficiencies.
Beyond focusing on virtual payment, the HRS solution has an integrated service. HRS collects, audits and reconciles all invoices on a global scale, and digitizes this into level three data. “This hasn’t been possible in our industry before,” said Mr. Ragge. “It increases the transparency of traveler data and enables the continuous optimization of travel programs.”