A Beijing-based startup SpaceBox, which focuses on providing leisure accommodation for young people, has recently raised over RMB10 million in its A+ round financing led by Aqua Venture, which also participated in the startup’s A round financing.
Founded on April, 2017 by an entrepreneur team from Peking University, SpaceBox creates time-share leisure space for young people for various leisure activities like movie screening, games, business meetings and accommodation, using the Internet and intelligent and big data tools.
The company works with individual hotels and helps them make their brand appeal to young people. It aims to help hotels enhance rates, occupancy and usage through renovating rooms to set up scenes for different needs. It also helps hotels implement operation systems that measure traffic flow by points.
As of mid-2019, the company has expanded its business to various first- and second-tier cities, delivering 100% occupancy and profits for every project.
SpaceBox has 400,000 core members as of June 2019, and over 60% of its users have rebooked. At present, 90% of the company’s orders came from its own channels.
China's vast number of single hotels are seeking branding opportunities. In addition, as the population structure continues to change, with millennials and even the generation Z becoming the main force of consumption, young people need personalized accommodation offerings at better prices.
SpaceBox is striving to work on product experience and brand building for young people, as well as focus on operational efficiency and empower individual hotels.
“Focusing on young, emerging consumer groups is how we break through the market, and we will continue to develop new offerings to meet their needs in accommodation,” SpaceBox CEO Yan Chengfeng said.
Given the development of the hotel industry in the United States, China's chained hotels are still low quality and the single hotel market in China is huge, estimated to be worth trillions of yuan, said Zheng Yi, a partner of Aqua Venture.
“I have confidence about the future of SpaceBox for its positioning as an Internet hotel for young people, its creative scene renovation solutions, and solid traffic operation capabilities, which are the key for hotels to survive in the competitive industry,” Mr Zheng added. (Translated by Juli)
