UpsellGuru

What UpsellGuru does

UpsellGuru GmbH is a Germany-based SaaS company that provides a hospitality upselling platform covering the pre-arrival, on-arrival, and in-stay stages of the guest journey. Founded in 2017 in Dortmund by Karl Schmidtner (CEO), Hans Schmidtner (Managing Director), and Matteo Galli, the company has grown to serve 1,000-1,500 hotels across approximately 50 countries without external funding. Its core products include a Pre-Arrival program featuring a proprietary guest-facing dynamic bidding system for room upgrades, an On-Arrival program equipping front desk staff with dashboards, gamification, and performance tracking, and an In-Stay program delivering personalized offers via QR codes, WhatsApp, chatbots, and email. The platform integrates two-way with Property Management Systems including Avalon Cloud and Sihot, and bundles professional services comprising 2-3 day on-site training and dedicated Customer Success Consultants.

The company's technology stack centers on cloud-hosted SaaS with PMS API integrations, automated email and messaging pipelines, real-time analytics dashboards, and AI-assisted guest segmentation and dynamic pricing. Its business model is primarily subscription-based, quoted per-property on an annual cadence, with bundled professional services under multi-year contracts. Go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales with a consultative 'Book a Call' motion and channel distribution through PMS integration partnerships. Named customers include Marriott-affiliated brands (Autograph Collection, JW Marriott), Best Western, HEI Hotels, Ascott Limited, LUX* Resorts & Hotels, Althoff Hotels, Malmaison, and Swiss-Belhotel International, with documented customer outcomes including £48,000/month upsell revenue at St. Ermin's, $100,000 in upsell revenue at JW Marriott Savannah within months, and 18:1 gross ROI at Travel Charme Hotels. The company also co-developed 'The School of Revenue' with Infinito, an online learning platform launched at ITB Berlin 2023.

Name

UpsellGuru

Legal name

UpsellGuru GmbH

Website

https://upsellguru.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UpsellGuru is a German SaaS company that provides hotel upselling software spanning pre-arrival bidding, on-arrival front desk tools, and in-stay guest messaging, serving 1,000-1,500 hotels across 50 countries via PMS integrations and direct enterprise sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Upselling Software

NAICS

All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (561599), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Upsell, Ancillary & Merchandising Platforms (THALACAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Guest Experience & Concierge Services (THAMAKAJ), Integrations, APIs & Automation (Middleware/iPaaS) (THALAMAN), Post-Booking Servicing & Disruption Management APIs (Changes, Refunds, Reaccommodation) (THALAJAN)

Keywords

• Hotel upselling software
• Hospitality revenue management
• Guest upsell platform
• PMS integration software
• Pre-arrival bidding system

Headquarters

HQ city

Dortmund

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. SaaS Platform Subscription: UpsellGuru operates primarily as a subscription-based SaaS platform, charging hotels a recurring fee for access to its upselling software suite (Pre-Arrival, On-Arrival, In-Stay programs). Pricing is typically per-property or based on room count and is quoted on a per-engagement basis. The company also earns commissions on upsell transactions in some configurations.
2. Professional Services (Training & Consulting): The company provides on-site training, consulting, and onboarding services as part of its comprehensive upsell solution. This includes 2–3 day on-site training programs, ongoing Customer Success Consultant support, and refreshment training sessions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

UpsellGuru is a cloud-based, hospitality-focused SaaS platform that enables hotels to monetize room upgrades and ancillary services across the entire guest journey through three integrated programs: Pre-Arrival (automated, branded email upselling with a dynamic guest-bidding system), On-Arrival (front desk dashboards, gamification, and real-time upsell prompts), and In-Stay (QR code, WhatsApp, chatbot, and email offers with a digitized hotel directory). The platform integrates two-way with Property Management Systems such as Avalon Cloud and Sihot, and is complemented by Professional Services including on-site staff training, influencer training, and dedicated Customer Success Consultants.

Product overview

UpsellGuru is a comprehensive hospitality upselling platform consisting of three core programs—Pre-Arrival, On-Arrival, and In-Stay—that cover the entire guest journey. The Pre-Arrival program automates email-based upselling with a dynamic bidding system; On-Arrival equips front desk staff with dashboards, gamification, and performance tracking; and In-Stay enables personalized messaging via QR codes, WhatsApp, and chatbots. An optional Professional Services module provides on-site training, consulting, and ongoing customer success support. All programs operate within the unified UpsellGuru Platform, which serves as the central hub for analytics, PMS integration, and portfolio management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-Arrival Upselling
• On-Arrival Upselling Front desk upselling solution that equips hotel staff with real-time dashboards, actionable guest insights, one-click upsell prompts, and gamification features including leaderboards, badges, levels, and rewards. Includes goal-setting, incentive tracking, and performance audit capabilities for front office managers.
• In-Stay Upselling In-stay guest engagement solution that delivers personalized offers throughout the stay via QR codes, WhatsApp, chatbots, and email. Includes a digitized hotel directory, targeted messaging based on pre-arrival choices, and offerings such as F&B vouchers, spa packages, late checkouts, and room upgrades.
• UpsellGuru Platform Unified upselling hub providing hotels with single-sign-on access to all three programs (Pre-Arrival, On-Arrival, In-Stay), portfolio-wide oversight dashboards, real-time performance analytics, PMS integration, and Auto-Pilot automation capabilities that operate across multiple properties.
• Professional Services (Training & Consulting) On-site and remote training and consulting services covering upselling techniques, platform usage, incentives, and culture change. Includes frontline staff training (3-4 hour sessions), influencer training for front office managers, senior leadership engagement, refreshment training, and ongoing Customer Success Consultant support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hotels adopting upselling initiatives experience 5–10% total revenue increase (1.5–3% pre-arrival, 3–6% on-arrival, 0.5–1% in-stay)
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability6 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• InfinitoflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 March 2023UpsellGuru and Infinito co-launched 'The School of Revenue' — a comprehensive online learning platform offering Revenue Management Fundamentals, Restaurant Revenue Management, and Upselling courses for hospitality professionals. The announcement was made at ITB Berlin 2023. Swiss-Belhotel International (125+ hotels in 20 countries) committed to 2,000 licenses for their team members.
• Swiss-Belhotel InternationalflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 7 March 2023Swiss-Belhotel International, a leading global hospitality company with 125+ hotels in 20 countries, became the launch customer for The School of Revenue by taking 2,000 licenses for their team. Chairman Gavin Faull stated: 'We believe that The School of Revenue will provide our team with the knowledge and skills they need to excel in their roles.'
• Avalon Cloud (by ANTFOR)coreTechnology or Integration · 27 February 2023Integration partnership between UpsellGuru and Avalon Cloud enables hotels using Avalon Cloud as a PMS to access UpsellGuru's upselling suite through a seamless 2-way integration. Real-time room availability and reservation data sync automatically between systems. The integration was live in over 18 hotels at announcement with 50+ more in onboarding. Avalon Cloud serves 50+ hotel chains with 80,000+ rooms in 10+ countries.
• SihotcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2023UpsellGuru integrates with Sihot Property Management System, enabling Travel Charme Hotels & Resorts to use UpsellGuru's Pre-Arrival and On-Arrival programs with seamless data synchronization. Sihot is used by Travel Charme across their 12 German-speaking properties.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Duetto: Duetto offers a hospitality cloud revenue management platform. Comparable as a broader incumbent serving hotel revenue managers — UpsellGuru's target persona — and potentially adding upsell capabilities over time.
• IDeaS Revenue Solutions: IDeaS is a leading revenue management software provider for hotels and hospitality. While focused on pricing optimization, it increasingly overlaps with UpsellGuru's revenue-lift value proposition for hotel revenue managers.
• Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight): Lighthouse is a commercial platform for hotels offering rate intelligence, demand forecasting, and revenue management, plus the Oaky upsell suite. Comparable as a broader incumbent expanding into upselling and competing for the same hotel buyer.
• Cloudbeds: Cloudbeds is a hospitality management suite (PMS + booking engine + channel manager) used by independent hotels, with a marketplace that includes upsell apps. Comparable as a broad incumbent that could absorb upselling into its platform.
• Mews: Mews is a modern cloud PMS used by hotels that includes 'Mews Upsell' features. Comparable as a broad incumbent PMS that competes with and could potentially displace standalone upsell platforms through native functionality.

Direct peers

• Whistle: Whistle is a guest messaging and engagement platform for hotels that overlaps with UpsellGuru's in-stay messaging (QR, WhatsApp, chat) and offers upsell modules. Comparable as a hotel guest-engagement SaaS targeting similar buyers.
• Oaky (by Lighthouse): Oaky is a hotel upselling SaaS platform offering pre-arrival, on-arrival, and in-stay upsell tools similar to UpsellGuru. Acquired by Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) in 2024, it is the most direct comparable in product and target market.
• Upsell.com: Upsell.com provides a hotel upselling and merchandising platform covering pre-arrival, on-arrival, and in-stay touchpoints. Direct competitor with the same product category and hotel customer base as UpsellGuru.

Others

• SiteMinder: SiteMinder is a hotel commerce platform offering a booking engine, channel manager, and GDS integration. Comparable as an adjacent ecosystem player serving hotels globally; potential partner or competitor in the upsell funnel.

Emerging players

• Canary Technologies: Canary Technologies provides AI-powered hotel guest management tools including mobile check-in, upsells, and digital concierge. Comparable as an emerging player in hotel guest journey technology that intersects with UpsellGuru's pre-arrival and in-stay offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@upsellguru
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/upsell-guru
• Instagraminstagram.com/upsellguru

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UpsellGuru