Lighthouse, a London-based software company specialising in hotel room pricing, has become Britain’s newest unicorn after securing a $370 million (£293 million) investment from American private equity giant KKR.
The substantial funding elevates the company’s valuation to over $1 billion, a milestone that grants it unicorn status in the tech industry.
Founded in 2012 by Belgian entrepreneurs Matthias Geeroms and Gino Engels, Lighthouse supports over 70,000 hotels and rental accommodation providers worldwide. Its client roster includes major brands like Radisson, Accor, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), as well as numerous small bed and breakfasts. The company plans to utilize the new capital to further develop its AI-powered data analysis software and pursue international expansion, including potential acquisitions.
Sean Fitzpatrick, the company’s chief executive, described Lighthouse as a “12-year overnight success.” He noted that since 2021, the firm has been building its reputation in the highly fragmented travel technology market. “There is a unique characteristic of travel tech where you have a very small number of behemoths, the likes of Amadeus and Oracle, where they have a very significant market share,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have broken through and are getting to a scale where we can really disrupt some of the incumbents.”
Lighthouse’s software assists property managers in planning their pricing strategies for the year ahead and enables them to adjust room rates multiple times a day based on real-time demand. Drawing on 300 million travel and leisure market data points daily, the platform recommends optimizing prices at least four times a day to keep up with market dynamics.
Fitzpatrick highlighted that only about 5% of the over one million hotels worldwide use a system like Lighthouse, indicating significant growth potential. “In many cases, it is still a highly manual process,” he said. The software aims to help hotels maximise occupancy and revenue, even outside peak events like concerts or sporting events.
Previously known as OTA Insight until a rebrand last year, Lighthouse employs 700 people. The company is expected to generate annual revenues exceeding £79 million this year, a significant increase from £42.5 million last year. Despite posting a pre-tax loss of £3.9 million last year, the new investment signals strong confidence in the company’s future prospects. Lighthouse had also raised $80 million from investors in 2021.
KKR, renowned for its investments in large corporations—including the historic $25 billion acquisition of RJR Nabisco in 1989—sees immense potential in Lighthouse becoming a significant player in the $15 billion travel and hospitality technology market. The private equity firm believes that Lighthouse’s innovative solutions and growth trajectory position it well to capitalise on opportunities in a market dominated by a few large incumbents.