SaaS company BookingJini eyes 3x growth in next one year

BookingJini, a SaaS platform for hotels, is trying to reduce the influence of intermediaries in the hospitality industry. The platform enables hotels to build customised websites, manage bookings, maximise revenues and market their properties. The company's technology platform enables hotels not only to increase their profit margins, but it also gives a holistic view of all the operations of the hotel to the management on real time basis. BookingJini has recently raised $3.3 million in its pre-Series A round led by Mumbai Angels Network. The Bhubaneswar-based startup is also planning to increase its global footprint by entering into North American market in coming year. In a conversation with the Bizz Buzz, company's Founder and CEO Sibasish Mishra said growth prospects of the company are promising as it eyes 3x growth in the next one year. He also said that the cash flows of the SaaS company remain robust, putting it on a strong growth path in coming years

Currently, 2,200 hotels are using our platform. Our user base is also rapidly growing. Every month, we are adding more than 100 hotels to our portfolio. Since last two years, our growth rate was flat due to Covid. But we are projecting almost 3x growth year on year basis. We have also gone global by tapping into the nearby countries of India like Bhutan, Bangladesh among others. We have also got traction from New Zealand and Australia. We also have a long-term strategy of going into the North American market

We don't compete with the booking platforms. Rather, we coexist. We also share the inventory with the booking platforms but ensure that the loyalty is created for the hotel. Everyone knows that the producer of the product can give you the cheapest price. Price increases once the intermediary comes in. We believe that the owner of the hotel can give the best price. The only problem they face is the visibility or discovery of that property. So, we solved that. Through this, consumer wins as he is able to get a better price

How has been the journey so far in building this SaaS company?

The journey is quite eventful. Dominantly, the sales mentality was there. The tools and technology, and the way we see the business model has changed. But the sales exposure from my stints in financial institutions stays.

What has motivated you to set up 'BookingJini' which operates in the hospitality space?

The motivation behind starting up BookingJini comes from a personal experience. After quitting my job in the financial services space, I started something in services segment and most of clients were in California. Every year, I used to travel to the US for business development purpose and I used to stay in hotels. One of the hotel owners once shared with me, next time when you come, please intimate me through email. He offered to book the room for me in advance along with giving me a 10 per cent discount. That was the time I understood that booking platforms usually charged around 30 per cent commission from hotels for facilitating booking of that room. Coming from financial background, we are familiar with commissions spanning around basis points. So, I asked my technology team in Bengaluru to develop a payment gateway for this hotel so that he can accept bookings from his website. Eventually, I brought this idea to Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) and promised them double the growth if they would allow us to implement this technology solutions. OTDC agreed and we were able to give them 4x growth the very next year through bookings from their own website. Then, we sense a big opportunity. If we could do it for OTDC, we could replicate it for a lot of boutique hotels. We targeted those small and medium-size hotels.

Do you compete with the booking platforms or is it a collaborative model?

We don't compete with the booking platforms. Rather, we coexist. We also share the inventory with the booking platforms, but ensure that the loyalty is created for the hotel. Everyone knows that the producer of the product can give you the cheapest price. Price increases once the intermediary comes in. We believe that the owner of the hotel can give the best price. The only problem they face is the visibility or discovery of that property. So, we solved that. Through this, consumer wins as he is able to get a better price.

What kind of pricing advantage one gets if he books the hotel using the hotel's own platform?

In Indian condition, pricing will be at least Rs300-500 cheaper for our clients (hotels which are using BookingJini platform) than hotel aggregators. The hotelier has many distribution channels. Using our technology, the hotelier gets a better price from booking. Also, users pay as per their usage. So they get return on their investment as these expenses are operational in nature.

How many hotels are using your technology platform at this point of time? What are your expansion plans?

Currently, 2,200 hotels are using our platform. Our user base is also rapidly growing. Every month, we are adding more than 100 hotels to our portfolio. Since last two years, our growth rate was flat due to Covid. But we are projecting almost 3x growth year on year basis. We have also gone global by tapping into the nearby countries of India like Bhutan, Bangladesh among others. We have also got traction from New Zealand and Australia. We also have a long-term strategy of going into the North American market.

Are you adequately funded now? What is your fund raising plans?

We have raised $3.3 million in its pre-series A round led by Mumbai Angels Network. We will utilise that fund in product development and marketing. We will also look expanding our global footprint. We are adequately funded now and will look at raising funds next year.

What are your profitability plans as SaaS companies usually make profits in a short span of time?

We have been making gross profits from day one. During Covid, it was a little negative. There are occasions when we were breakeven also. But we are in an investment mode. What is important here is the cash flow. Rather than looking at valuation of the company, we have been focused on building a strong foundation.

How big the team now? Are you planning to expand the team size now?

We have a 67-member team now. Most of the technology team is based out of Bhubaneswar. We will increase our team size as we grow.

What are the risks associated with your business model?

We don't see any risk apart from pandemic. Today, what we are doing is developing a operating model for hotels. We are providing integrated services with all in one software. Promoters can have a clear visibility of all the major operations through our dashboard even on mobile. This brings in a lot of efficiency.