What CREX does

CREX PTE. LTD. is a Singapore-headquartered climate-tech startup founded in 2022 by Sam Hon and Anut Chatikavanij. It originally built an enterprise carbon accounting platform anchored by a verified database of over 10,000 ASEAN emission factors and a proprietary Scope 3 reasoning engine, serving financial institutions (KKP Bank, Thai EXIM Bank) and sectors including beverage, real estate, power generation, and construction. Following selection into Meta's inaugural Llama Incubator under the AI Safety track (co-led with IMDA Singapore), CREX pivoted in 2025–2026 toward an AI hotel discovery platform designed to make hotels visible, recommended, and bookable through large language models.

The current product surface comprises four interconnected components: an AI Discovery Scanner that evaluates how AI models interpret a hotel across eight trust categories; AI-ready Hotel GEO Profile Pages optimized for retrieval by ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Meta AI; a Sustainability + Guest Experience Platform powered by the same ASEAN emission factor database; and a Booking Referral + Incentive System. Underlying AI capabilities combine Meta's Llama Vision for document intelligence (used to extract sustainability data from hotel invoices and procurement records) with CREX's proprietary Narrative Generator and Scope 3 Reasoning Engine, embedded with IMDA's AI Safety Toolkit and aligned to ISO/IEC 42001, ISO 14064/67, and ISO 27001 under a BSI-certified Lead Auditor CEO.

Commercially, CREX operates a commission-only model with no subscription fees: the Free Plan charges a 12% referral fee on commissionable completed stays, while the Enterprise Plan charges referral-only fees on attributed bookings for multi-property groups; Early Access partners receive a locked-in 10% commission cap. Go-to-market combines product-led self-serve (free AI Visibility Scanner with no PMS or OTA integration required), event-driven demand generation (NoVacancy Asia in Bangkok and NoVacancy London at ExCeL), and B2B2B distribution via financial institution partnerships. The company has 8 employees as of May 2024, offices in Singapore, Bangkok, and London, and has been funded through friends-and-family capital, the Enterprise Singapore EDG Innovation grant, a corporate investment from Haad Thip Public Company Limited, AWS Activate support, and a Meta Llama Incubator cash prize following its Top 3 finish.

Name

CREX

Legal name

CREX PTE. LTD.

Website

https://crex.eco

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CREX is a Singapore-based startup that runs an AI hotel discovery platform, using a verified 10,000+ ASEAN emission factor database and AI-ready profiles to help independent and boutique hotels get discovered, recommended, and booked by large language models on a commission-only basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hotel AI Discovery Software

NAICS

Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (56159)

akta.pro primary industry

Hotel CRS & Booking Engines (THALADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Guest Experience & Engagement (CRM, Messaging, Loyalty) (THALACAF), Central Reservation Systems (CRS) (THALACAB)

Keywords

• AI hotel visibility
• Hotel discovery platform
• Generative engine optimization
• Hotel carbon accounting
• AI booking referrals

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Direct Booking Commission — Free Plan: 12% referral fee on commissionable completed stays. Hotels use the platform free of subscription cost and pay only when AI-referred bookings are completed. Early Access members get a locked-in commission cap of 10%.
2. Direct Booking Commission — Enterprise Plan: Referral-only fee on attributed bookings. No subscription fee. Enterprise pricing for multi-property AI governance and cross-property optimization.
3. SaaS Subscription (Freemium Base): Platform offered as Software as a Service, free for registered users with no prior expertise required. AI-driven platform guides users through emissions estimation. Revenue generated via transaction fees on bookings rather than subscription.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CREX provides an AI hotel discovery platform that scans and structures hotel sustainability and guest experience data into AI-readable trust signals, exposes AI-ready hotel profile pages, and earns a referral commission on bookings driven through AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Meta AI. The platform is offered free to hotels with no subscription fee and is monetized through a 12% referral fee on AI-attributed completed stays.

Product overview

CREX offers a unified Hotel AI Discovery Platform comprising four interconnected products: the AI Discovery Scanner for visibility assessment, Hotel GEO Profile Pages for AI-optimized presence, Sustainability + Guest Experience Platform for carbon accounting with Asia's largest emission factor database, and Booking Referral System for direct booking optimization. These products work together to help hotels get discovered, recommended, and booked by AI systems while managing sustainability data. The platform is offered through SaaS with free and enterprise pricing tiers, charging referral fees on attributed bookings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI Discovery Scanner An AI visibility assessment tool that scans a hotel and shows how AI models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Meta AI interpret the property, scoring it across 8 trust categories and AI readiness dimensions. Available on a Free Plan with no PMS or OTA integration required.
• Hotel GEO Profile Pages AI-ready hotel profile pages optimized for retrieval, recommendation, and booking by AI travel platforms. Each page structures sustainability, wellness, design, culture, culinary, and regenerative practice data into AI-readable trust signals that AI platforms can interpret and cite.
• Sustainability + Guest Experience Platform Hotel sustainability platform powered by Asia's largest AI-ready hotel-specific emission factor database (over 10,000 verified ASEAN emission factors) and a proprietary Scope 3 reasoning engine. Combines carbon accounting with guest experience attributes and uses Llama Vision document intelligence to extract sustainability data from hotel invoices and procurement records.
• Booking Referral + Incentive System Direct booking referral system that drives bookings to hotels through AI discovery pathways. Charges a 12% referral fee on commissionable completed stays (10% capped rate for Early Access members), with no subscription fee; optimized for direct bookings but compatible with OTAs.

Named customers2 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Thai EXIM BankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 May 2025CREX collaborates with Thai EXIM Bank to promote carbon accounting to SMEs across Thailand as part of the bank's sustainability initiatives. This partnership enables CREX to reach SMEs through a trusted financial intermediary with established SME relationships.
• MetacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMeta co-leads the AI Safety track of the Llama Incubator with IMDA Singapore. CREX was selected as one of only 20+ global startups from 300+ applicants and named Top 3 winner at the Demo Day. The partnership focuses on advancing trustworthy and transparent AI systems, with CREX embedding IMDA's AI Safety Toolkit and showcasing Llama Vision document intelligence capabilities.
• Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) SingaporecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMDA co-leads the AI Safety track of Meta's Llama Incubator with Meta. CREX participated in the AI Safety sub-track, embedding IMDA's AI Safety Toolkit into its product design. CREX was featured as a case study in IMDA's Starter Kit for Testing LLM-Based Applications for Safety and Reliability.
• AWS ActivatecoreTechnology or IntegrationCREX is backed by AWS Activate, which provides cloud infrastructure, AI services, and support enabling global scale with enterprise-grade cloud and AI infrastructure.
• KKP BankminorOthersCREX helped KKP Bank calculate Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon footprint including Scope 3 Category 15 'Financed Emissions', positioning the bank at the forefront of Bank of Thailand climate disclosure guidelines. An early enterprise customer for the financed emissions SaaS platform.
• e27minorGTM or Marketing Partnere27 supported Meta's Llama Incubator ecosystem by amplifying responsible AI innovation across Asia. Special thanks given in CREX's press release for supporting the program.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Expedia Group: Parent of multiple OTA brands and a major hotel distributor. Comparable as a broad incumbent competing for the same AI-driven travel discovery demand that CREX is targeting, with significant resources to build or acquire GEO capabilities.
• Trip.com Group: Asia-leading OTA operating Ctrip, Trip.com, Skyscanner and others. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same Asia hotel discovery and booking space CREX targets, with growing AI concierge capabilities that overlap with the AI discovery thesis.
• Booking.com: Global OTA leader in hotel discovery and booking. Comparable because CREX directly competes for hotel direct bookings and is building AI-driven discovery flows to reduce OTA dependency—Booking.com is the incumbent CREX most directly threatens and is most threatened by.

Emerging players

• Atomize: AI revenue management platform for hotels, automating pricing and demand forecasting. Comparable as an AI-first vendor embedded in hotel commercial teams, targeting the same AI-driven hotel optimization thesis as CREX.
• Revinate: Hotel CRM and guest experience platform with a focus on direct booking and guest data. Comparable because Revinate also helps hotels reduce OTA dependency through guest data and CRM-driven direct demand, closely adjacent to CREX's guest experience profile.
• Mews: Cloud-native hospitality PMS and booking platform for hotels and hostels. Comparable because Mews is investing in AI-driven guest experience and direct booking flows, competing for the same hotel SaaS wallet and digital guest journey.

Direct peers

• Cloudbeds: Hospitality SaaS platform combining PMS, booking engine, and channel manager. Comparable because Cloudbeds is also building AI-powered direct booking and discovery features for independent hotels, directly competing for the same AI visibility narrative.
• SiteMinder: Hotel channel manager and distribution platform powering thousands of properties worldwide. Comparable because both companies sit in the hotel distribution layer helping hotels reach more booking demand, with overlapping AI-driven acquisition and visibility themes.
• Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight): AI-powered commercial intelligence platform for hotels covering pricing, demand, and market data. Comparable because Lighthouse uses AI to help hotels optimize revenue and visibility, occupying a closely adjacent AI-for-hotels category to CREX.
• SHR Group: Central Reservation System and hotel CRM vendor with AI-driven guest engagement features. Comparable because SHR operates a CRS plus guest engagement stack overlapping with CREX's booking referral and guest experience data positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crex-climate-recovery

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 CREX