OTA major Goibibo makes strategic investment in cloud-based hotel solution platform Djubo

Online travel major Goibibo has acquired a minority stake in cloud-based hotels solution provider, Djubo, for an undisclosed amount. The company offers end-to-end cloud-based solution for hotels through a single interface.

The investment in Djubo will help Goibibo enhance engagement with low budget hoteliers essentially in Tier II and III cities. The Naspers-backed company is betting big on hotel aggregation space with a sharp focus on budget accommodation segment.

Following the investment, Ashish Kashyap, CEO of Ibibo Group will join Djubo’s board. Both sides will leverage significant synergies through this equity partnership to ensure more online participation of long tail hotels.

Commenting on the rationale for the investment, Ashish Kashyap, CEO of ibibo Group said,

Ibibo’s aim is to participate in solving problems in the accommodation and transportation industry. In the accommodation space, we are the largest hotels platform and similarly in the transportation space we are the number one bus ticketing ecosystem. Djubo is solving critical pain points of the hotel industry, delivering disproportionate value to the industry. We are very impressed with the Djubo team and the execution that they have demonstrated in a short time span.

Djubo currently claims to live with over 100 hotels and this investment would enable it to scale to thousands of hotels in the next 12 months.

Djubo provides an app-based centralized reservation platform and mobile friendly website templates for hotels along with a booking engine and payment gateway. The brainchild of IIM B and IMT, Ghaziabad alumni -- Tarun Gulati and Sankalp Goel -- Djubo also offers online channel management for seamless, automated integrations with multiple online travel aggregators (OTAs).

According to Tarun Gulati, Co-founder of Djubo,

Our product is not just another hotel management software solution. We educate and assist independent hotels to take on the challenge of competing with large hotel brands using technology. Our team commits a significant amount of time to understanding the problems faced by hotels and then suggests changes in their business processes and practices, thus helping them perform better in the market.

YourStory’s take

Budget hotel aggregation segment is having a ball in India this year and startups like Oyo and Zo Rooms are leading the race. Though, Ibibo does not compete with them directly, but it’s worth noting that the Gurgaon-based group has also launched its own budget hotel brand, Go Stays.

Currently, it’s not clear about strategies of Go Stays but according to our sources it has started displaying Go Stays brand name to a few select properties. In case Ibibo pushes its own budget hotel brand at Goibibo platform, aggregates like Oyo and Zo Rooms may not be happy with it. Also, Djubo is a booking engine and channel management solution for hoteliers and it’s unlikely that aggregates (because it mines aggregates data) will use it. We anticipate Djubo will largely be used for powering Go Stay’s branded properties.

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