Trentino-based Smartness secures €47 million to expand its AI operations.

      The Trentino-based travel tech startup, Smartness, has successfully secured €47 million in a Series B funding round, which includes both primary and secondary equity as well as debt. This marks the largest funding round for an Italian vertical SaaS company.

      Smartness specializes in business-to-business (B2B) Software as a Service (SaaS), providing a range of products designed to aid hospitality businesses in their digital transformation and enhance their operational efficiency. For instance, their software helps automate various industry workflows, including customer service, administrative tasks, daily operations, online and offline marketing management, and accounting.

      The funding was led by United Ventures and CDP Venture Capital, with contributions from Partech, which was an earlier investor in the €13 million Series A round in 2023. This latest funding brings Smartness’s total capital raised to over €60 million. CEO and co-founder Luca Rodella indicated to EU-Startups that the company has achieved a revenue milestone of €10 million and possesses the necessary resources to scale to €100 million, ultimately aiming to become a €1 billion leader in its category.

      Founded in 2020, Smartness began as a dynamic pricing software provider but has since broadened its offerings to include CRM, property management systems, and operational AI solutions, serving more than 5,000 customers in 41 countries. The company has reported a consistent organic growth rate of 10% each month, excluding acquisition-related contributions, and has experienced a growth of over six times.

      In the competitive landscape of hospitality, various European startups are securing funding to promote the use of specialized software and AI technologies in the sector, amounting to a total of €343 million. For example, the Amsterdam-based hospitality tech company Mews raised €255 million in Series D funding to enhance its investments in AI, automation, and agent-driven workflows in hotel operations. Similarly, the German-based firm Nesto secured €11 million to expand its AI workforce management platform for restaurant groups, and Happyhotel raised €6.5 million in Series A funding for developing AI agents focused on hotel revenue management.

      Smartness has engaged in multiple mergers and acquisitions, and its long-term vision is to create the world’s first Agentic System for hotels and vacation rentals. This funding round will enable Smartness to further strengthen its competitive edge in the hospitality sector, capitalizing on the current demand for AI-driven operational systems.