Smartness, a Trentino, Italy-based AI-powered SaaS platform automating hotel and vacation rental operations, has raised €47M ($55M) in a Series B funding round led by United Ventures and CDP Venture Capital, with Partech participating. The platform integrates dynamic pricing, property management systems (PMS), guest chatbots, marketing, and payments to drive revenue growth and reduce OTA dependency. This hybrid equity-debt round brings total funding past €60M and supports European expansion through organic growth and acquisitions.
Hospitality Tech Funding Wave Builds
The round arrives during a $1B investment surge in hospitality tech from April 2025 to March 2026 per Hotel Dive, with PMS and AI tools dominating. Leaders like Mews raised $300M in that period. European peer Happyhotel secured €6.5M in February 2026 for AI expansion. Smartness positions as an all-in-one automation suite for independents, contrasting pure-play pricing rivals.
Intuition Pricing Costs Hotels Billions
Over 70% of hospitality structures rely on manual pricing intuition, per company data. High OTA commissions erode margins, while fragmented tools demand multiple vendors. Independents struggle against chains with advanced tech. Smartness targets this gap, claiming average +30% revenue uplift and -20% OTA reduction for 4,000+ customers across 41 markets.
All-in-One AI Unifies Hotel Ops
From origins as Smartpricing, Smartness evolved into a unified platform with Smartpricing (AI dynamic pricing), Smartchat (70% automated guest messaging), Smartpms (all-in-one PMS), and more. Unlike Atomize or BEONx, which focus on pricing alone, it integrates CRM, websites, ads, and pay-per-results revenue management. Recent launches like Smartresults tie pay to performance, appealing to risk-averse properties.
Performance Ties Pay to Results
As Luca Rodella, CEO noted:
"A structural shift is underway: from providing software to generating tangible results."
This agentic AI vision aims for autonomous operations, building on integrations with 20+ PMS like Mews and Cloudbeds.
Italian VCs Back Vertical SaaS Scaleup
United Ventures, with exits like Faceit acquisition, leads alongside government-backed CDP Venture Capital, signaling national priority on TravelTech. Partech, prior Series A lead with UiPath IPO cred, follows on. Fabio Pirovano of United Ventures highlighted the founding team's strength. This mix validates Smartness' path to global leadership in hospitality SaaS.
Hotel RMS Market Doubles by 2033
The hotel revenue management software market stands at $1.94B in 2025, projected to reach $3.78B by 2033 at 8% CAGR per Congruence Market Insights. Another estimate pegs it at $11.58B growing 14% CAGR through 2031 via ReportPrime. Trends favor AI automation and direct booking shifts amid OTA fee hikes.
Independents Gain AI Edge Over Chains
Competitors like Duetto and IDeaS serve enterprises, while Duve and PriceLabs emphasize rentals. Smartness differentiates for European independents (Italy, DACH, UK) with full-stack tools reducing vendor sprawl. #1 fastest-growing B2B hospitality SaaS in Europe per Sifted 250 underscores traction.
Serial Founder Drives Hospitality AI
Co-founder and CEO Luca Rodella brings 10+ years, founding five travel startups like 1Dest.com. COO Tommaso Centonze (ex-Google New Business) handles scaling, CPTO Eugenio Bancaro leverages Silicon Valley dev experience. This trio propelled 140+ employees and LinkedIn Top Startup #2 in Italy.
Tripling Revenue via Acquisitions
Smartness plans to triple 2026 revenue through organic growth, M&A, and agentic AI development. Recent hiring spree (20+ roles in sales, engineering) and DACH/UK focus signal aggressive expansion post-10% MoM growth.