Impala raises $1.75m for its TravelTech API service

Impala, an API service for the hotel industry, has closed a $1.75m Seed round.

The company, which has to date raised more than $2m in funding, connects third party TravelTech businesses to hospitality management systems.

Impala drew investment from Greg Marsh and Demetrios Zoppos, founders of private home rental service onefinestay, and the HOWZAT Partners group.

CEO Ben Stephenson and COO Charles Cowley founded Impala, which is also backed by Kima Ventures and Pioneers Ventures, last year.

Stephenson said: “We originally endeavoured to create a new, better PMS, but we soon realised the real problem was that industry-wide data was off-limits to the vast majority of hotel tech innovators.”

The co-founders developed the universal API concept at Techstars in Berlin, and say they have signed 65 businesses onto their waiting list before launch.

Cowley added: “Like Stripe or Twilio, Impala has a simple SDK that fits within your existing software. We’ve built an API which, through one simple integration, connects you to every hotel your company will ever need.”

Stephenson went on to note: “We’re not a marketplace or a data warehouse or an abstract standard. We’re simply a transparent service that easily plugs into your product.

“Our focus is on the developer’s experience and making sure that our API is designed, documented and delivered to the highest standard so that your teams don’t need to waste any time,” concluded the CEO.

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