RateBoard - from a Startup to a multimillion company in only 5 years

In 2020, after the 5th anniversary of RateBoard, there is definitely reason to celebrate! From a tiny business idea, the two founders Matthias Trenkwalder and Simon Falkensteiner have turned the revenue management software RateBoard into one of Europe's big players. Terrific investments, numerous awards and a multi-million dollar cooperation have been the highlights of the last few years.

Over the past five years many things have been going on at RateBoard. Since the first release of the product, the revenue management system has successfully entered the market and at the beginning of 2020, the company managed to specify the partnership with the IT specialist "Zucchetti". In the meantime, more than 450 individual, leisure and chain hotels rely on the cloud-based software solution and the know-how of RateBoard's revenue management experts.

During their years at university Simon Falkensteiner and Matthias Trenkwalder, the founders of RateBoard, already identified the problem of inflexible price lists and its handling in the daily routine of hoteliers. As a result, the two innovative South Tyroleans immediately detected a gap in the market for technological price management solutions. After intensive discussions with experts from the tourism industry, the Revenue Management Software "RateBoard" was born.

"In tourism forecasts, the trend towards more flexibility had been recognized already for years, but to our surprise there was no suitable solution on the market at that time. With RateBoard we have completely revolutionized the leisure hotel market. Also in the future RateBoard will continue to set new milestones - you can be curious". Simon Falkensteiner, CEO RateBoard

Flash-back into the year 1995

The phone rings. Mr. Müller, who has been visiting his favourite hotel every summer for the past 20 years, wants to book again. There are not many open questions, because the arrival and departure day is only possible on Saturday, the minimum length of stay in summer is 14 days and the price list was sent to Mr. Müller in advance by post. Do you still remember?

Today, with these conditions, the frequency and revenue of the hotel would look bad. Due to digitalization and globalization, for the past 10 years the booking process as well as the stay needs to be flexible, fast and easy. In order to meet these requirements and continue to be able to compete in the market, the use of appropriate software solutions in hotels has became mandatory.

The high demand for the revenue management software RateBoard, which was founded in 2015, quickly confirmed this essential market needs - especially in the vacation hotel industry, the requirement for an adequate solution to manage dynamic prices was and still is enormous.

But what would a start-up be without hurdles

Interfaces, interfaces, interfaces was the name of the game in the beginning. Together with a couple of cups of coffee and spinning heads, the developers of RateBoard were quickly able to successfully integrate the most important hotel programs and channel managers. What initially proved to be an obstacle quickly became a strength, and RateBoard is now the most connected revenue management software in Europe.

 

"What made the beginning particularly challenging for us was that all things had to be created at the same time. Partners had to be convinced that an integration makes sense for our common clients. But we also had to make sure that we analysed the best possible insights from the data and then made these available again to our users. It was about how we could technically implement our vision and also how we could help hotels most effectively with our solution." Berthold Agreiter, CTO RateBoard

The data, which RateBoard receives via interfaces are analyzed and processed in a complex algorithm and then displayed as price recommendations for the hotel. The algorithm behind the ideal pricing of RateBoard is based on a scientific cooperation with the University of Innsbruck. In order to ensure the highest level of innovation and a permanent further development of the algorithm, the team behind Dr. Martin Schwarz, Head of Data Science at RateBoard, is still in close collaboration with the university.

Over the years not only numerous hotels became RateBoard's friends

Also many well-known Names like the Austrian Hotelier association or the Familotel group recognized the potential of RateBoard. Just taking part was never enough for RateBoard, from the "Cluster Award" to the "Born Global Champion", the trophy collection in the head office in Innsbruck is already filled with countless national and international awards.

After the first chaotic years, some investors became aware of RateBoard. Already in 2017 Next Floor Ventures invested in the Tech Start-Up. In 2018, the million Euro investment followed, which was the starting signal for further developments and an expansion.

2020 the mega partnership

What began as a sales cooperation became a spectacular milestone at the beginning of the year! The Italian IT giant Zucchetti, with over 600,000 customers took RateBoard into its "Horeca" portfolio. Through the partnership, RateBoard will achieve an even stronger market presence in the future and will make great progress towards its goal of becoming the market leader in dynamic pricing.

"The last five years have been phenomenal. To see how your own idea is growing, how the team is working hard, how investors are recognizing the potential of RateBoard and how the product is ultimately inspiring hotels and partners - that is definitely worth every single second. With the Zucchetti Group we have found the perfect partner to continue to push our ambitious goals and together support thousands of hotels in the field of price management". Matthias Trenkwalder, CEO RateBoard

You want to learn more about the revenue management software RateBoard? Then arrange an appointment for your personal consultation now.