Smart City Technologies: The city bikes are also an easy mode of transport for tourists
#TravelTech: The short-term rental start-up for business travelers MagicStay.com Raises 1.5 Million Euros
The short-term rental start-up for business travelers MagicStay.com, has just finalized a new round of fundraising to continue its development. Just four years since its release, the rental platform already offers 150,000 apartments in 90 countries and has taken a leading position in the alternative accommodation industry.
The fundraising totaling 1.5 million Euros was led by the start-up’s main shareholders (Michaël Benabou, Benoit Bassi, Patrick Lucas, Nicolas Quenedey or Charles Petruccelli, former CEO of American Express Global Business Travel…), as well as new investors, including Marc Frappier, Managing Partner of Eurazeo and Head of Eurazeo Capital, Thibault Basquin, Managing Director of Ardian, Nicolas Santi-Weil, CEO of AMI Paris…
This round table will let the start-up accelerate its exclusive technological development for employees of large companies to book secure apartments as easily as hotel rooms, via either existing booking tools (Hotel Booking Tool, Self Booking Tool, Travel Management Company), or through the exclusive Weezard tool, the 1st Apartment Booking Tool, developed by the start-up with Travel Managers.
The start-up plans for strong growth in the French market before going global at the end of 2018… « We will further expand our accommodation offer to be a global player and meet the demands of our customers » says Valéry Linÿer, CEO of MagicStay.
MagicStay will also develop a special offer for extended stay and mobility, to facilitate the reservation of apartments for 1-month to 1-year periods, in terms of payment, contract, installation, etc. «HR lack a user-friendly and comprehensive tool to manage accommodation for their executives on the move», says Valéry Linÿer.
After securing contracts with Societe Generale, NextRadio, Quicksilver, Havas Voyages, CDS, iAlbatros, H-Résa, other very important contracts are in their last phase of negotiation.
« After the Travel Managers, we managed to convince the Security, IT and Legal Directors of major groups of the relevant service we provide to traveling employees, and to the company guaranteeing their safety», adds Valéry Linÿer.
About MagicStay.com
Launched in 2014, MagicStay.com is the leading alternative accommodation site dedicated exclusively to business tourism. It provides more than 130,000 selected accommodations – apartments, studios, villas – meeting the requirements of business travelers and managed by professional agencies.
TravelTech: ‘Hands-Free’ and ‘Anti-Theft’ Travel for Wheeled Carry-on Bags
RetraStrap has won the prestigious Gold Merit Award from INPEX in 2016 for a retractable strap which travelers can hook to their luggage and then wear the other end around their shoulder to keep both the hands free for other chores. No more neck and shoulder pain while traveling with wheeled carry-on bags.
“Being a frequent traveler I know the hassles of traveling with wheeled carry-on bags. Constant pulling of your carry-on in the same twisted posture throughout the trip gets really taxing on arm, shoulder and neck muscles. Moreover, it keeps your hands occupied which makes things inconvenient when you have to carry your coffee or talk over the phone or do any other chore with your hands. But you can finally bid adieu to all such hassles from now on. Our RetraStrap is meticulously designed to relieve you from the physical stress and other inconveniences you face while pulling the carry-on wheeled luggage. Put simply, we ensure you the much-awaited ‘hands-free’ travel with our revolutionary retractable strap. We also assure a safe way of traveling with your carry-on wheeled luggage when you are armed with our retractable strap,” said Omar Abass, the inventor behind RetraStrap.
It’s Omar’s own painful experiences with traveling with wheeled carry-on bags that inspired him to brainstorm about an appropriate solution – and thus RetraStrap was born.
