Shackle, an
Ireland-based hospitality technology platform, has raised £12 million in a
Series A funding round led by Silverstripe Investment Management Limited.
The company’s
early investors, including Dublin-based Frontline Ventures and angel investors
Guillaume Pousaz, the founder of Checkout.com, and Brad Bao, co-founder of
Lime, are also participating in this round.
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The company
also said that Gerald Lawless, former CEO of luxury hotel chain Jumeirah Group,
will join its board.
Founded in
2020, Shackle provides a comprehensive app solution for hotel that integrates
with property management systems for contactless check-in and check-out, enables
keyless entry and manages room service and payments. Travelers download the app once and then there personal data is stored for use at any hotel that works with Shackle.
“Travel is siloed and broken. Nowhere is this more apparent than the hotel booking and check in process,” said Mark Abraham, founder and CEO at Shackle.
“When you arrive at a hotel despite filling in online forms, the hotel still requires the same details physically from you. This can take 10-20 minutes which is so out of step with the world we live in. If you think about it, you can get groceries delivered to your house in less time than it takes to check in to a hotel. This is what we want and are revolutionizing. With the Shackle platform from the moment you book your hotel you bypass this archaic hotel check-in process. You simply wait for the day and time of arrival where your digital key will be sent to you.
“Having spent my entire career working within the hotel industry in a variety of roles, I was acutely ware of how our industry has lagged when it comes to tech adoption. I was always ambitious to enhance the customer experience, and this is why I founded Shackle. This really is only the beginning of Shackle’s journey and I am confident that with the partners and team we have in place we have the bility to create the world’s largest book, stay and explore travel platform.”
The company said its platform is currently used by hotels in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
The company raised $5.5
million in seed funding in August 2022.