Gurgaon-based travel-tech startup
Qacco has secured USD 150,000 as angel funding led by Lead Angels Network - an alumni focused pan India angel network. LetsVenture - a platform that connects startups with investors also participated in the round.
The startup, operated by Qacco Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, will use the funds to develop its technology, build the team and create B2B focussed marketing campaigns, Chaitanya Jha, co-founder, told Business World in an email interaction.
Launched in July 2015, Qacco enables curated hotels to sell exclusive deals to a large closed user group of corporate employees.
“Qacco (www.qacco.com) is India’s first virtual holiday desk exclusively for corporate employees. Unlike regular online portals, Qacco provides restricted access to only the employees of companies that signup with Qacco. Employees can then access exclusive travel deals from curated hotels & homestays by logging in through their official email ID for their personal holidays,” explained Chaitanya.
The company has currently tied-up with 300 top rated hotels across 95+ destinations in India. From jungle lodges to beach retreats, from heritage hotels to homestays, Qacco has a wide range of experiential hotels offering exclusive deals in its collection. Qacco earns its revenues through a margin charged from the hotels on the booking value.
Various companies such as Accenture, FIS Global, TCS, Wipro, Tata Communications, IDFC Bank, Essar Group, Tata Motors etc have launched Qacco’s offerings for all their employees as a part of their employee benefits program.
“Qacco addresses pain points on both sides- on one hand, it acts like a private concierge for corporate employees enabling discovery of excellent high quality stay options; on the other hand it provides the right kind of positioning and showcasing to top rated hotels & homestays and helps them pitch their customized deals to a high value audience at a zero marketing spend” said Sushanto Mitra, Founder & CEO of Lead Angels. The network was recently in the news for funding Vadodra based startup Purpledocs.
"I met Chaitanya in October 2016 and I was instantly sold on his idea and capability to execute it. As someone who loves travel, I could easily relate to Qacco's vision and I think it taps into a big market. The concept of a virtual holiday travel desk for boutique hotels is a much needed digital solution. I can see the Qacco's B2B and B2C business model with low acquisition costs and large market size fit very well with the target customer. I look forward to seeing the business grow and to be part of the journey" said Anbu Pandian, who invested in Qacco through LetsVenture.
Qacco was founded by Chaitanya Jha & Abhinav Imandi, batch-mates during their MBA program at MDI Gurgaon (2008-10 Batch); with past start-up experience. In the next three to six months, Qacco intends to tie-up with 100+ companies as well as multiply its network of hotels.
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