Japanese hospitality startup H2O raises USD 7 million to expand real estate business

H2O, which stands for Hospitality 2.0, has raised USD7 million in Series B funding from Samsung Ventures, Stonebridge Ventures, IMM Investment and Shinhan Capital bringing its total raised funds to USD18 million.

As Japan’s tourism industry is booming, it faces a shortage of hotel rooms, especially in Tokyo. Thus, the emergence of short term rental is unstoppable. H2O addresses the market opportunity with a platform that helps vacation rental owners manage their properties.

H2O allows owners to manage operations, housekeeping and bookings from different online travel agencies on its platform, lowering the cost of doing business. The company also recently launched H2O, a vacation rental brand, to expand its real estate development business, including a new hotel near Universal Studio Japan.

Started as a home cleaning service, H2O has expanded into a full-fledged hospitality management platform that offers property, yield, revenue and operations. H2O’s property management system works by syncing three calendars: guests, rooms and housekeeping. All are linked and automated to prevent double bookings and make sure housecleaning services are available. This allows H2O’s software to manage revenue, inventory and yield on a per-room basis and schedule guests and cleanings.

The platform also allows clients to manage multiple properties at once and offer smart locks, online check-ins and chat-based customer service.