Qstay Hospitality Technologies (also known as “Qstay” or “the Startup”), a next-generation hospitality company based in Dubai DIFC that is changing the guest experience through technology and design, has finished a $6.5 million SEED round. Loans and investments were used to pay for the project.
Qstay was started in 2020 by long-time UAE resident Artur Khayrullin, who is the CO-CEO, Ukrainian-born Ekaterina Rogozhina, who is the CCO, Ukrainian-American Alec Fesenko, who is also the CO-CEO, and his wife Natalya Fesenko, who was the original investor. Since the beginning, Qstay has been trying to change the hotel industry by combining modern, technology-driven service with smartly built, inspiring rooms into a single, well-managed experience. Qstay runs about 200 properties in the UAE and Europe, and another 200 are under contract. By the end of 2022, the company wants to have 450 units that bring in money.
Qstay is a virtual hotel brand that offers services and amenities similar to those of high-end hotels, like bathrobes, slippers, luxury toiletries, bathroom amenities, tea, and Starbucks coffee, to people staying in beachfront properties. Qstay also lets guests staying in beachfront properties use an app to get to nearby pools, beaches, gyms, and spas.
Qstay has been named a Superhost and has better reviews on Airbnb than its competitors. This gives the hotel a great occupancy rate, which is usually around 80%, and a great REVPAR of $195, which is much more than the competition. Even though Qstay has only been in business for two years, it has had positive EBITDA for the last two quarters and plans to have positive Net Income in Q4 2022.
Quarter over quarter, the company’s sales have been going up by more than 100%, and Qstay thinks that by 2023, its portfolio will have grown to over 600 units and will have made more than $50 million in sales.
Artur Khayrullin, the founder and CO-CEO of Qstay, said that the money would be used to “accelerate the incredible growth we’ve seen so far.” The idea is meant to spread to at least five places in Europe and the Middle East over the next year.
“Driven by QSTAY’s differentiated digital service model, the Company can reduce operating costs by as much as 50% compared to traditional hotels. Through innovative technology, additional digital services such as mobile-based access to the facilities of top beach resorts and thoughtfully designed accommodations, QSTAY is revolutionising the hospitality industry,” says Artur Khayrullin. “With one-of-a-kind modernised service, our guests experience an uncompromising quality with inspiring design at a price point that democratizes access to an extraordinary hospitality experience.”
The company rents out large groups of apartments in prime locations, improves and furnishes them to a uniform level of luxury, and supports them with a lot of luxury hotel-like services and facilities. This lets visitors stay in beautifully designed rooms for low nightly, weekly, or monthly rates.
The company also offers text-enabled 24/7 concierge service and says that all of its apartments are “directly leased and managed by Qstay,” even though it does not own any of them.
“Our raise underscores the strength of the business and the rapid shift taking place within the hospitality industry due to technological innovations. Our vision for travel is making beautiful, well-designed spaces accessible to everyone with technology while providing exceptional mobile app-based add-on services,” said Alec Fesenko, co-founder and CO-CEO. “We are far more efficient than traditional hotels while also providing a unique space and add-on services that are flexible enough to meet everyone’s needs. Whether you’re travelling on your own, for business, with your family or with friends, you will always have a space that can accommodate you.”
Qstay is currently building a separate, technology-driven platform that will offer easy booking, a digital concierge, and a single, on-demand platform for maintenance and care.
With this round of funding, Qstay will be able to speed up and boost its goals.
Qstay wants to take advantage of more opportunities in the $800 billion global hotel market, which is growing, and strengthen its position as a unique, quickly growing innovation in the hotel industry. Qstay plans to keep investing in technology and growing its presence and product line over the next few years to give its investors, real estate partners, and guests an even better experience and make more money for all of them.
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