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February 23rd, 2015

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Trivago and Hotels.com had better start looking over their shoulders because there might be some stiff competition on the horizon.

Nustay.com, a new Danish luxury hotel booking startup that promises to revolutionise the online hotel booking industry, looks all set to start off with a bang in the near future. Its potential has not gone unnoticed.

The British-based venture capital fund AppIdea, which revealed late last year that it was looking to invest about 19 million kroner into Danish tech-startups, is already on board with about 825,000 kroner, while seasoned Danish affiliate marketing entrepreneur Magnus Kjøller and his Dubai-based team have laid down about 2.475 million kroner.

“This is a big deal for a Danish startup, especially considering we haven't launched yet,” Mathias Lundø, the co-founder and CEO of Nustay.com, told the Weekly Post. “Our investors believed so much in me, the concept and my team that they decided to invest based on a very high seven-digit million USD figure valuation, even though we have yet to launch.”

Other early investors include Simon Skouboe – who runs the Danish luxury resort Henne Kirkeby Kro, Michael Telling, the managing director of Kokkedal Slot, and Jeff Coe, the managing director of the US-based hospitality software company Voyat Inc.

Good match = good times
Nustay.com aims to take on the challenging and competitive online hotel booking market by giving travellers improved access to better booking rates and by offering hotels a way to submit unique offers to each individual guest at a discounted rate.

The service includes 'best matching' guests with hotels by rating guests via their profiles, interests and past hotel expenditure using an advanced algorithm. 'Best match' generates a happy customer, according to Nustay.com.

“Due to our ‘best match’ system, we are able to match you with your preferred luxury hotel. A perfect match equals a happy stay,” the website contends. “Ensuring the perfect match between guest and hotel ultimately helps the hotel establish great services for the benefit of you.”

READ MORE: British tech-fund searching for the next Danish IT gem

Bay area base
Lundø stated that he was not looking for any more investors at the moment, but plans are afoot to establish of base of operations in San Francisco, California later this year, and then the search for major investors, including major venture funds, will commence in earnest.

Currently, Lundø is in Dubai negotiating with some of the most high-profile luxury hotel brands in the world, and judging from the response from the hotel industry, Nustay.com will be in a prime position to become successful when it officially launches in a couple of months time.

“The feedback has been incredible. We will launch with around 600 luxury hotels all over the world. One of our very early investors, who is now a board member, is Michael Telling, the managing director of Kokkedal Castle Copenhagen and the previous managing director of D'Angleterre. He saw the potential immediately and wanted to be a part of the project.”

Adversity breeds innovation
Lundø got the idea after a romantic holiday to Thailand last year turned into a nightmare after he and his partner found themselves stuck in a noisy family-orientated hotel, a far cry from the quiet and elusive getaway that the pair had been looking forward to enjoying.

The debacle revealed that the current hotel booking industry had pitfalls that needed to be addressed. So Lundø got to work.

“We got really disappointed. There was so much noise, especially at the pool area, that each morning we left the hotel and didn’t come back until the late evening. We spend a tonne of money on a five-star luxury resort, which we didn’t want to spend time at,” Lundø said.

“This was not good for the resort, because we didn’t spend any money in their restaurants or at their wellness facilities. I have never recommended the hotel to anyone because I was so disappointed.”

While Nustay.com isn't scheduled to open until late April, users can already sign up online.