Business Travel Startup: 'Engine' raised $140 million in series C funding round, valuing the company at $2.1 billion.

‘Hotel Engine’, a business travel platform, has swooped in and raised one of the year’s largest rounds of capital for a travel startup. Hotel Engine raises $140 million in a series C funding round which valued the company at a whopping $2.1 billion.

The Denver-based company provides an online platform that travel managers will use to book business trips. The objective for the company was originally to focus on hotel bookings, but flights and car rentals have launched now and we’re expecting further reveals. The company has now dropped the word ‘hotel’ from the name and will go by Engine to reflect that expanded focus.

The platform provides access to rooms at 750,000 hotels through a search bar that can filter results by property type, location, amenities and more. It’s possible to book accommodations for solo business travelers, corporate groups or MICE events.

Hotel Engine, or ‘Engine’ claims for differentiate from it’s competition by offering alternative and more useful business travel tools. Engine says they offer several financial incentives to customers, making them a more cost effective platform for business travel. They do not require minimum spend memberships and they offer less penalties should trips be shortened or cancelled.

Alongside its cost-cutting features, Hotel Engine provides tools for speeding up the administrative work involved in business trips. One tool allows companies to consolidate multiple hotel bills into a single invoice to simplify accounting. There’s also a feature for managing incidental deposits, which are used to cover hotel expenses not included in standard room charges. 

Hotel Engine says that its platform is used by more than 40,000 customers, including PepsiCo Inc., Whole Foods Market Inc. and other major brands. Those companies rely on the software to plan business trips for about 700,000 workers. Hotel Engine says that bookings on its platform are on track to exceed 10 million room nights this year. (Silicon Angle)

Visit their website to find out more. 

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