Top tier venture capitalist now on board
Redundant data is a thing of the past
Software technology in hotel chains traditionally consists of several stand-alone solutions from different vendors. As a result, hotel companies must maintain redundant data. ”A single change to a room rate can require updating five or more different systems manually,” explained Olaf Jacobi, Partner at Target Partners. “The hetras solution combines all business-critical functions in a single application and will be sold on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis. Though the product is in the pre-release phase, several hotel chains and individual hotels have already agreed to use the hetras hotel management software,” added Jacobi.
Addressing a large market
Hotel companies are not the only beneficiaries of this new technology. “Guests who book their room via the internet at a hetras-powered hotel can see the available rooms in 3D and select their preferred room at the time of booking, just as passengers can choose their seat on flights,” said Michael Heinze, CEO and founder of hetras GmbH.
Professionalism made the difference
“As a former venture capitalist myself, I was deeply impressed with Target Partner’s professionalism and speed throughout the investment process,” said Keith Gruen, who leads business development and marketing at hetras. “We were able to work fast thanks to the well-organized and experienced management team” said Jacobi. “In addition to serial entrepreneur Michael Heinze Keith Gruen is also an experienced and successful entrepreneur.” hetras marks the second hotel technology venture for Keith Gruen.
Seed financing from the Austrian Government
Prior to the current financing round, hetras received funding from the High-Tech Start-up Program of the Austrian Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (AWS) as well as financing from hotel industry experts Gruen and Johann Steszgal. “The high-performance in-memory database, the 3D technology and the experienced management team convinced us to support hetras”, explained Karl Schiller, Investment Manager at the Austrian Wirtschaftsservice.
About Target Partners:
With € 225 million under management, Target Partners is one of the leading early-stage venture capital funds in Germany. The firm invests in start-up and early stage companies and supports them during their build-out and expansion phases. With many years of experience as managers, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, the team at Target Partners supports entrepreneurs in developing and marketing products and services, building organizations, raising money and taking companies public in Europe and the United States. For more details: www.targetpartners.de
Press contact Target Partners:
Compass Communications GmbH
Agentur für Unternehmenskommunikation
Helena Horak
Hesseloher Str. 9
80802 Munich
Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 189 508-80
Fax: +49 (0) 89 189 508-97
Email: helena.horak(at)compass-communications.de
About hetras GmbH:
hetras is the first company to build a fully internet-based management application for hotels and hotel chains of all sizes. The hetras hotel management software combines traditional property management systems (PMS), central reservation systems (CRS), customer relationship management (CRM), channel management and internet booking engines into a unified application. The hetras product is offered on a SaaS basis, meaning the customers pay a flat fee per month per room. The 100% service oriented architecture (SOA) not only enables unprecedented scalability and security but allows third parties to extend the hetras application with additional functionality and custom front-ends. To find out more about hetras or join the hetras mailing list, www.hetras.com.
Contact: Keith Gruen, hetras GmbH, Schillerstr. 10, 5700 Zell am See / Austria. Tel.: +49 172 897 6199, Email: keith.gruen(at)hetras.com
About Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (AWS)
The Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH is the development bank of Austria. As a publicly controlled bank, AWS specializes in financing startups as well as small to mid-size businesses. AWS enables development and growth opportunities for businesses which would otherwise have difficulties in raising financing: through grants, low-interest loans, assumption of liabilities, equity investments and consulting. Part of the AWS funding comes from the ERP-Fonds, a program of the United States Marshall Plan.
Contact: Ing. Mag. Karl Schiller, austria wirtschaftsservice GmbH, Technology & Innovation, Ungargasse 37, 1030 Vienna / Austria. Tel.: +43 (0)1 50175 517, Email: k.schiller(at)awsg.at
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