News Briefs

Canary Technologies, a global leader in hotel guest management technology, announced it has closed an $80 million Series D round of funding to accelerate the company’s global expansion as a leader in hospitality AI. Brighton Park Capital led the round, with participation from existing investors: Insight Partners, F-Prime Capital, Thayer Ventures, Y-Combinator and Commerce Ventures. This latest investment brings Canary's valuation to approximately $600 million dollars.

This fundraise comes on the heels of a $50M Series C raise announced 12 months ago and caps off an impressive year of growth marked by major partnerships with Best Western, Aimbridge Hospitality, Marriott, Wyndham, TUI Hotels & Resorts, and others. Additionally, Canary unveiled the launch of new cutting-edge AI products, including AI Voice and Webchat. As global demand for AI-powered guest engagement solutions continues to rise, Canary will use the funding to accelerate its rapid expansion. 

“The hospitality industry is entering a new era powered by AI, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of that transformation,” said Harman Singh Narula, CEO and Co-founder of Canary. “Through intelligent, enterprise-grade solutions, we’re helping hotels run smarter, deliver faster service and create more personalized guest experiences at scale. This latest investment reflects both the extraordinary dedication of the team—whose work is redefining what’s possible—and the growing impact Canary is making across the industry. We’re energized by the strong demand and excited to expand our partnerships with many of the world’s leading hoteliers.”

The announcement builds on Canary’s accelerating growth and influence across the hospitality sector. Today, the company supports more than 20,000 hotels in over 100 countries and serves as the enterprise partner of choice for leading global brands, including Marriott, Wyndham, Best Western and many others. Canary has earned consistent recognition from industry experts—named the #1 Guest Experience Platform in consecutive years by HotelTechReport, and recognized by Deloitte, Fast Company and more.

“This milestone reflects our team’s continued commitment to building solutions that elevate the industry,” said SJ Sawhney, President and Co-Founder of Canary Technologies. “Our AI solutions are crafted in close partnership with customers, purpose-built for hospitality, and deeply inspired by hoteliers’ day-to-day workflows. When our hotel partners dream of better service, smarter operations, or more delightful guest experiences, our team works hard to turn those dreams into reality with precision, scale and purpose.”

“Canary’s scale and growth within the travel and hospitality sector are truly unprecedented,” said Kevin Magan, Partner at Brighton Park Capital. “We’re thrilled to partner with Harman, SJ, and the entire team as they accelerate their momentum and solidify their position as a category leader. Their dedication to delivering enterprise-grade, high-impact solutions for hoteliers positions them for long-term success and sustained global leadership.”

At its Leadership Experience event earlier this month, Starbucks announced its first generative-AI powered solution to support its frontline employees is being piloted in 35 locations.

Green Dot Assist is a virtual assistant built to help baristas in real time. Instead of flipping through manuals or searching for answers, partners can now ask questions on in-store iPads and receive instant, conversational responses. 

"With this new solution, we’re simplifying access to essential information in the flow of work for partners, making their jobs a little easier while they build confidence and expertise. For example, if a barista needs a quick reminder of the ingredients for a seasonal beverage, Green Dot Assist provides guidance in seconds—helping partners feel confident in delivering exceptional customer service," according to an annoucement on its website.   

Starbucks says this marks a significant step forward in its commitment to streamlining operations, reducing friction, and giving partners more time to focus on crafting beverages and connecting with customers.     

WATCH the Starbucks annoucement.

Meyer Jabara Hotels is cloud-connected, AI-accelerated, and future-proofed thanks to the recent recruitment of Chris Clap as Chief Technology Officer – a first-time position for the 48-year-old hotel ownership and management company. As its portfolio of branded and independent hotels continues to grow across the U.S., MJH is aligning its tech strategy and business ambition to build a better foundation for the future. 

“We’ve long been committed to leveraging technology to drive better outcomes,” said Ted Jabara, Meyer Jabara Hotels Senior Vice President Technical Services. “Having worked with Chris in the past and being extremely impressed with his IT leadership experience, we recruited him to build a team and a vision that will enable us to better serve our properties, staff, and customers. Chris has the experience, professionalism, and customer service centric mindset we need to stay ahead of the technology curve and be truly future ready.”

MJH’s technology roadmap centers on three core pillars:

1. Cloud-First Operations: Leveraging Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Azure, the company will build a mobile-first digital ecosystem that enables staff to access data securely from anywhere, untethered by VPNs or legacy systems and results in faster, smarter decision making.
2. Proactive Security: Leveraging a resilient, layered security framework that integrates proactive and reactive tools, MJH will ensure up time and protect data integrity. From endpoint protection to real-time monitoring, the company is developing a depth-of-defense strategy to ensure technology roadmap success.
3. AI and Automation Analysis: Leveraging workflow automation analysis – from accounting to revenue management – along with AI, the company will reduce manual data entry, increase speed, and eliminate inaccuracies.

Professional & People Focused

“Having worked with Meyer Jabara Hotels as a vendor, I know the team and what they stand for,” Clap said. “Their values and culture were a significant factor in my decision to join the company. This is a place where I can make a real impact, not just on systems, but on people’s day-to-day experiences. Meyer Jabara Hotels is embracing technology not to replace people, but to leverage human capabilities and allow our teams to focus on high-impact work. It’s all about building a foundation for how hospitality will be delivered in the future.”

Clap comes to Meyer Jabara Hotels with nearly 30 years of IT experience. Previously, Clap worked as a Senior Systems Engineer and Professional Services Engineer for Managed Services Providers (MSP), designing IT networks, security assessments, and custom solutions for customers. He started his career working for IBM supporting both internal and commercial accounts in application virtualization technology. Clap resides in Connecticut with his wife and has two adult children.

“My goal at Meyer Jabara Hotels is to work on the business, not in the business,” Clap said. “Our focus will remain on the strategy, growth, and systems that improve the business overall and allow it to scale, improve, and succeed.” 

Aptech, a provider of scalable accounting, business intelligence, financial planning and management solutions for the hospitality industry, announced the launch of TVNG, its next-generation budgeting and forecasting solution for hotels.

Designed to empower finance managers and department heads to make more informed decisions, TVNG ultimately enables organizations to achieve their strategic objectives. The solution actively engages budget managers with an intuitive non-Excel interface that walks them step-by-step through the process and allows them to document their reasons for each decision along the way.

Purpose-built for hotels,TVNG provides property finance teams with a complete set of tools, controls, and built-in reports, with the ability to integrate with Excel for custom data crunching. It features flexible budgeting functionality using a guided approach with an interactive budget navigation map tailored to each department, which orients each user to where they are in the process and how they are doing against finance guidelines.

With the integration of actual data from PVNG, blended forecasts are available throughout the year to manage against budgets, identify trends and track the specific data needed to make changes to your plan. TVNG has two forecasting options–at the account level or below the account level–plus, long-term projections can be generated using forecasts to estimate broader trends for strategic planning purposes.

“Ultimately, a hotel organization’s budget needs to be a numerical expression of the strategic plan and that requires engagement, communication, and collaboration,” said Aptech President Jill Wilder. “TVNG offers a full suite of integrated components that on one side, ensures ease-of-use and a flexible budgeting process for department managers, and on the other side, more advanced tools developed specifically for the needs of the finance team.”

TVNG allows user-defined drivers, provides more accurate cost analysis, and adjusts the organization's bottom line accordingly–for a single property or across a full portfolio from one central location. Drivers are defined by the finance team as a control measure, so management can be assured that the right values are being used consistently across the entire organization. 

Self-service reporting through TVNG makes the budgeting process less complicated, so all approved users can run reports at any time to see a view of the data, as well as the rationale behind the data. With over 60 flexible standard reports available out of the box, all reports are configurable and immediately accessible to the finance team, budget manager or anyone who has the correct security privileges. Now, finance teams can build flexible driver-based budgets and forecasts, manage the planning process from a central location, and set goals for every area of their organization.

“TVNG is an incredible new solution for our hotel customers to add to their financial planning toolbox,” continued Wilder. “With our three industry-leading solutions for accounting—(PVNG),budgeting and forecasting (TVNG), and business intelligence (Execuvue)—hotel companies can better understand their financial data and turn it into actionable insights. Through our close customer relationships, we’re able to continue to develop new solutions like TVNG in answer to the challenges these hotels face and provide the right tools that allow them to access more accurate data for their finance teams.”

Aptech will be demonstrating TVNG at HITEC 2025 in booth # 3000 from June 17-19 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. To schedule an appointment with the Aptech team at HITEC, please visit https://www.aptech-inc.com/contact/.

For more information on TVNG and the rest of Aptech’saward-winning financial management, business intelligence and planningsolutions for hospitality, please visit http://www.aptech-inc.com.

AVaStar has published a free resource to help hotels and event venues better understand where their AV operations are falling short — and what can be done about it. “Why AV Operations Are Overlooked” is now available for download by clicking here, and it is the ideal resource to help attendees of HITEC Indianapolis better prepare for shopping the show next week. 

Unlike other departments in a hotel, AV services often lack structure, documentation, and accountability. This downloadable guide helps venue teams identify the operational blind spots that arise when no formal AV management system is in place — questions about equipment purpose, maintenance, cost tracking, and staff responsibilities that too often go unanswered.

AVaStar is the first and only AV operations platform designed specifically for hotels, conference centers, and event venues, and it helps properties manage inventory, track costs, train staff, and support AV across all departments, from meeting rooms to digital signage to public space sound systems.

“Many venues assume that having the AV equipment installed means they’re ready,” said Eric Bracht, Managing Director at AVaStar. “But without clear operational oversight, hotels risk lost revenue, inefficiencies, and guest dissatisfaction. This guide introduces what’s missing — and why it matters.”

The free guide explores:

• Common questions staff face without an AV operations plan

• The risks and hidden costs of unmanaged or outsourced AV services

• How in-house AV, when properly managed, can rival room revenue

• Why traditional tools like spreadsheets and sticky notes fall short

• The advantages of implementing a centralized AV operations system

AVaStar is offering a complimentary three-month trial of its platform (a $2,285 value) to HITEC attendees who visit Booth #908 or schedule a follow-up meeting by July 31, 2025. The trial includes full platform access, onboarding, and expert support.

Schedule a meeting:

https://calendly.com/ebrachtavs/introduction-to-avastar-operational-support

Cloudbeds, a hospitality management software platform, announced a data automation agreement with STR, a CoStar Group company – a provider of premium data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry.

Through a seamless data exchange from Cloudbeds to STR, users will be able to track trends in occupancy, average daily rate (ADR), revenue per available room (RevPAR), and other essential metrics directly within their STR dashboard, facilitating data-driven decision-making.

Adam Harris, CEO of Cloudbeds, added: “This collaboration with STR is a game-changer for the hospitality industry. By integrating real-time data from Cloudbeds to STR, we are providing hoteliers with the tools they need to stay ahead of the competition, drive profitability, and enhance the guest experience.”

Key benefits of the partnership:

• Seamless data exchange: Through an API integration, Cloudbeds customers will gain direct access to STR’s extensive market data, empowering them to benchmark their hospitality performance.
• Enhanced market insights: Hoteliers can harness STR’s robust benchmarking data to better understand market trends.
• Data-driven decisions: The integration will enable hoteliers to make more informed decisions regarding operations, marketing, and revenue management through real-time performance insights.
• Optimized Revenue Strategies: By utilizing comprehensive market data, hoteliers can adjust pricing strategies dynamically, capitalize on demand spikes, and improve their competitive position.

The integration is available today to shared customers of STR and Cloudbeds. Both Cloudbeds and STR are committed to providing ongoing support and education to help hoteliers fully leverage the data automation.

To learn more, visit Cloudbeds at HSMAI Commercial week and HITEC in Indianapolis, June 16th to June 19th, 2025.