Hotel software solutions provider P3 has announced plans to almost double its workforce and expand into the United States and Germany after it secured investments totaling $1.2m (€1.1m).
The Irish company – which offers an integrated ecosystem of hotel technology through core products, such as custom booking engine and online check-in/checkout solutions– announced that it has received $820,000 (€750,000) from Business Venture Partners (BVP).
This funding comes on top of a recent $380,000 (€350,000) investment that P3 received from the Irish state economic development agency Enterprise Ireland in 2021.
P3 now plans a major expansion into the US market, and also into Germany. The funds will facilitate the creation of 15 new jobs – five in the US, two in Germany and the remainder in Ireland – bringing to 40 the number of people employed in the company. Recruitment for employees to help develop new products and assist with new clients is already underway, and includes programmers, client technical support staff, project managers, and sales and marketing staff.
P3’s global expansion is the result of continuous strong growth in recent years, driven by the company’s close partnership with hotel reservation system provider Oracle Hospitality and its acquisition of new leads in international markets.
Innovative contactless solutions, such as online check-in/checkout, which facilitate social distancing and reduced queuing times in hotels, continue to help hotels with automation of tasks during the present labor shortage. An enhanced customer booking experience also helps increase direct booking rates.
P3 CEO Phelim Pekaar said:
“This investment from BVP will take P3 to the next level – we’re delighted to have completed the deal and are now very focused on growth in the US and German markets.”
“One of the biggest learnings for the hotel sector from the past two years has been recognition of the need to change and innovate, to embrace technology and use it to your advantage – in areas such as integrated online check-in/checkout and secure payment facilities.”
“Lots of hotels which previously did not give enough consideration to this are now analyzing their IT infrastructure and are changing their older reservation systems to newer platforms, such as OPERA Cloud, which offer greater automation and operational efficiency.”
“They want to realize the benefits that technology offers and are now looking for software solutions which allow them to enhance the guest experience and drive revenue growth. This shift is providing tremendous opportunities for companies such as P3.”
Elliot Griffin, Managing Director of BVP, said:
“We believe that P3 is a good fit for BVP. Our investment is the culmination of a process where we took time to learn and understand the mechanics of what P3 does, the people involved in the company, and its potential for growth. We’ve built a strong relationship with P3 on the back of this process, and we’re excited about helping them to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities in the hotel technology sector.”
