Italian startup Vikey raises €800K in funding to enable guests to remotely self check-in into hotels and apartments directly from their smartphones

We now live in a contactless world, thanks in part to coronavirus. Social distancing has become part of our daily lives. Gone are the days of sitting down in a restaurant and ordering meals. We now live in an era of contactless food delivery. We now avoid handshakes and touching things formerly so common to us like physical cash, handrails, doorknobs, and many others.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is being felt throughout the travel industry and real estate. It is now critical for real estate agents and other accommodation facilities to offer contactless showings to make it easier for guests to self check-in remotely without having to touch the doorknobs. One company that is addressing this problem is Vikey, an Italian tech startup that has developed a solution that allows hosts to remotely open accommodation facilities and manage online all bureaucratic procedures with a simple smartphone.

Today, Vikey announced it has closed €800K in a new investment round with the participation of CDP Venture Capital Sgr – Fondo Nazionale Innovazione – through the AccelerOra! Program – Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), LVenture Group, and other business angels. With this new capital increase, the startup’s total funding rises to €1.6 million.

Founded in 2016, Vikey aims to revolutionize the hospitality sector by digitizing the reception in hotels and holiday home guests. Thanks to Vikey’s contactless technology, hosts can accept all reservations (even last minute), increasing the occupancy rate, while saving time and costs, if compared to traditional check-in procedure.

Vikey has developed a hardware and software solution for hotels and apartments intended for hospitality use, to open the accommodation’s door directly via smartphone. Their system manages all aspects of check-in and check-out, including sending documents and paying for upselling services.

Vikey has recently signed national and international partnerships with major players in the hotel and alternative hospitality sectors, such as Altido (owner of 1,800 real estate properties, which is now affiliated with Vikey in 25 European cities).

“This new round of investment is an important result for Vikey and means investors truly believe in our project. Our solution has experienced significant growth lately, considering that contactless services are more and more requested in the hotel industry and other sectors as well. This capital rise is a fundamental step to keep innovating and scale-up in a market that is transforming at a very high pace”, said Luca Bernardoni, CEO of Vikey.

“We have proudly invested in Vikey with a second-round because we know the team is skilled and their vision is able to intercept new needs, thanks to their technological masterplan: in short, we are confident about their future”, said Valerio Caracciolo, Champion IAG and Italian Vice President Angels for Growth.

“Vikey has successfully anticipated market changes and reacted accordingly, even among difficulties. The new investment round will support the startup in its international expansion path, thanks to many important partners in our network, such as CDP Venture Capital Sgr and IAG. This an important signal for the Italian innovation ecosystem: resilient, scale-up driven teams like Vikey’s are the future of our entrepreneurial fabric”, said Luigi Capello, CEO of LVenture Group.