Concierge365 Sees Big Opportunity in Hotel Guides

Concierge365 is a SaaS, digital concierge resource guide for hotel guests. The service is currently available in 10,000 hotel rooms. Concierge365 completed the RAIN Eugene Accelerator in the fall of 2017, and they are now primed to convert a significant pool of beta testers into paid subscribers.

Story of Success

CEO Chris Lee was living the good life in Hawaii as a network applications engineer for TimeWarner Cable when he realized a potentially huge opportunity: the hospitality systems he was building for hotel guests to access the Internet offered no information about nearby businesses, restaurants, and attractions.

“The software was very successful, but then I went to see what the experience was actually like and I realized all the landing pages were useless. I asked myself, ‘Why am I being asked to make reservations at the hotel I’m already staying at? And why should I have to go look through the hotel guidebook to find a place to eat?’ The landing page should offer the same information as the guidebook,” said Lee.

Just how big is this opportunity? 144 million people stay in hotels every month in the U.S. alone, and 65% of those people connect to the hotel’s Wifi network within 7 minutes of checking in.

Experience with the RAIN Eugene Accelerator

Lee moved to Eugene last year and soon afterward learned about RAIN Eugene. Chief Startup Officer Joe Marushack introduced Lee to Daniel Crafts (COO), another hospitality professional with similar ideas of making information more accessible to travelers. The two of them started the 16-week Accelerator together, and they were later joined by Ashley Cagle.

“I make great products but RAIN Eugene taught me how to be a businessman. They helped me figure out my business model and the things you need to do to keep moving in the right direction,” Lee said.

What’s Next

In 2018, Concierge365 will focus on proving their business model by converting existing beta testers into paid subscribers. They also want to secure new hotel and local advertising partners. In the latter part of the year, they hope to be working on additional development, improving the user experience, and ramping up the sales team as they expand into new regions and markets.