BASIC COMPANY INFORMATION
Name of company: BYHOURS
Name and position of the person responding:
Guillermo Gaspart, Founder & CEO
Christian Rodriguez, Founder & CEO
Brief description of company and business model
BYHOURS is the first and only online hotel platform and mobile APP worldwide that lets you book micro-stays at over 3000 hotels in 3, 6 and 12 hour packs.
BYHOURS introduces the pay-for-use system to the hotel sector. Now the user can decide the time of arrival and departure from the room 24H and only pay for the time they are there.
CEO + Founding team. Brief description of trajectory
BYHOURS Founder and Executive Chairman, Guillermo Gaspart
Fourth generation hotelier with more than 14 years of professional experience in the travel and hotel industry. He specializes in business development and strategy for luxury and business hotels. Guillermo has applied his extensive knowledge preparing business plans and pre-inaugurations of hotels to the start-up, growth phase and consolidation of the BYHOURS project internationally.
BYHOURS Founder and Executive Chairman, Christian Rodriguez
Christian has enjoyed an outstanding career on the Spanish and European scene, with an educational background in new trends. Christian has been creating and managing projects and startups since he was 18 years old. In addition to being a celebrity in the Spanish startup and entrepreneurial world, he has spoken at several prestigious European universities and has been a consultant to internationally established corporations and companies.
Year of incorporation: 2012
No of employees: 41
Management team:
BYHOURS Founder and Executive Chairman, Guillermo Gaspart
BYHOURS Founder and Executive Chairman, Christian Rodriguez
PROJECT DETAILS
Sector
Tourism
Volum of investment taken in:
7,2 M€
Main goals achieved:
Since we launched BYHOURS in 2012, we have grown exponentially and have managed to expand the micro-stay model to over 600 cities and international markets, both in Europe and (recently) Latin America and Southeast Asia. At this point we have obtained financing from foreign investment funds to boost growth in the new markets. Within the last year and in order to strengthen this stage of internationalization, we have renewed our image and we have launched a new APP with renewed technology.
Main challenges in the future
Globalize and lead the concept of micro-stays. After opening and establishing in cities on three continents, the next great challenge will be the United States, where we hope to start soon.
Why did you choose to establish the company in Barcelona?
We were born here in Barcelona, and we believe that for any business linked to the travel and hotel industry, Barcelona has all the ingredients to make a good MVP and manage the expansion worldwide.
Barcelona has been an important technological hub for several years, where many successful startups have sprung up and continue to emerge. As one of these, BYHOURS presents an innovative and unique concept, and I think we have managed to make our a niche and stand out. Barcelona is also a city with a favorable ecosystem for entrepreneurship that attracts internationally talented professionals. Let us not forget that Barcelona is home to many international fairs that allow us to be in ever closer touch with business and technology trends.
CONTACT DETAILS
Location: Plaça Pau Vila 1, Palau de Mar, 3a2
Web: BYHOURS
OTHERS
Inspiration? A model, company or business person/entrepreneur?
Dalai Lama! I think he takes the concept of morality and ethics beyond any religion. To sum up, the importance of every day relationships between people.
As a company, SpaceX. And a businessman outside the digital sector, Isaak Andic.
Recommended book or books
DESPEGAR by Christian Rodríguez, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker.
What websites do you use to keep informed?
Tech Crunch and Skift.
What apps you use most on your mobile?
Strava, Spotify and BYHOURS of course. Keep in mind that I do a lot of business travelling and I catch a lot of planes. The team all use our app.
What else would you like Barcelona to offer?
Facilities for bringing people who want to work and who for bureaucratic reasons cannot.
There are very good people from Latin America who do not come here to sunbathe, who have university training and who cannot get their paperwork done.
