Brazil: Mexican proptech start-up Casai announced this, as part of its continued expansion in Latin America [LatAm], it will launch operations in São Paulo and invest 100 million reais [Brazilian reales] in the years to come in its growth strategy in Brazil.

This decision represents Casai’s entry into the Brazilian market and the first international market launch since its founding in 2020.

Nico Barawid, CEO and co-founder of Casai, who was recently shortlisted for Rising Star at the 2021 Shortyz Awards, said Istoe Dinheiro: “Casai was founded as a technology company driven by a necessary change in the hospitality industry. Innovation has always been in our DNA and, with the arrival of the pandemic, we are looking to develop features that allow our customers to have the best possible experience, but with less risk.

Casai raised $ 48 million in a Series A round as of October, which included $ 23 million in equity financing and up to $ 25 million in debt financing from TriplePoint Capital.

The equity funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participating investors, the Cultural Leadership Fund, Kaszek Ventures, Monashees Capital, Global Founders Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures and Tom Stafford, also helping to bring Casai’s total funding to $ 53 million raised following funding of $ 5. million seeds. The most recent round was the largest Series A raised by a company in Mexico and was one of the largest ever made in Latin America.

Casai’s expansion into Brazil and new destinations in Mexico, including Tulum and Puerto Vallarta through the recently launched Getaways by Casai product, brings the startup’s footprint to more than 300 smart spaces across Latin America. It aims to increase the number of units offered through the Getaways product to 500 properties by the end of the year.

At the time of its launch, the start-up defined its goal of building a “new vision of hospitality in Latin America” ​​and set a “high standard of excellence with luxurious amenities, superb local design and technology. intelligent sophisticated ”. The idea behind this was to create a sort of happy medium between an Airbnb hotel and apartment, providing the appropriate flexibility for young professionals and digital nomads, without compromising on quality standards or amenities either.

Each smart Casai unit offers keyless recording, Chromecast powered TVs and high speed wifi which can all be controlled through the company’s app, and it has also partnered with Loopkey to incorporate new smart lock technology. to Casai’s exclusive technology and intelligent equipment. center, butler.

Casai also announced its partnership with WeWork to provide benefits and spaces for guests to work remotely, as well as collaborations with local partners to improve the guest experience in apartments, provide food and provide green amenities. and high quality.

To facilitate the expansion of proptech, Casai announced the appointment of Luiz Eduardo Mazetto as Country Director for Brazil, who will lead the team of 30 people in the country.

Mazetto said: “We are concerned with the development of sustainable tourism designed to support the community. Local immersion is a very important concept for Casai, because we want our customers to feel at home wherever they are.

“São Paulo is one of the most important metropolises in Latin America. We want to offer a differentiated experience in terms of accommodation, in line with the high level of services demanded by such a cosmopolitan city, ”he added.

Casai’s growth has been all the more notable in the context of the global pandemic. The company has grown almost three times since the start of the pandemic, and in the past six months alone it claims to have increased total units by 30% and revenue by 150%, and kept occupancy rate of over 90%. percent.

It follows last week’s announcement that the World Travel and Tourism Council [WTTC] will invest $ 2.5 billion in the tourism industry in Mexico, which was particularly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic. The announcement was made by the organization’s president, Christopher J. Nasseta, at the twentieth WTTC summit in Cancún, and according to proposed plans 100,000 jobs would be created in the country’s tourism industry.