The Dutch start-up Convious has just raised more than 10 million euros to accelerate its growth. We interviewed its founder Camiel Kraan and its director France Laure de Montalier.
L’Echo touristique: How was the start-up Convious born?
Camiel Kraan (CEO-founder) : I founded six companies in total, each time to solve a particular problem. With Convious, which was created in 2016, my initial objective was to set up dynamic pricing for zoos, as it already existed in other sectors: air travel, car rental, hotels, ride-hailing… It was a lever to prevent exhibitors from making systematic promotions in order to increase the number of visitors. Today, the Convious platform supports culture and leisure players in digitalization. We have 126 client companies in 16 European countries: amusement parks, museums, zoos… We are the only open, cloud-based platform. This is a real difference compared to the competition.
So Convious allows online booking on major platforms as well as live ?
Camiel Kraan : Yes, we are connected to TripAdvisor, GetYourGuide, Tiqets… But that’s not what we encourage the most. For us, selling directly is the best solution. We are not yet connected to Airbnb.
Other players like BookingKit or Regiondo are already positioning themselves in this field of experience, in France, where you have just opened an office… How are you different?
Laure de Montalier (Director France) : As Camiel says, we are a Cloud solution. We are at the antipodes of traditional software on the market which is in SaaS mode, with fixed functionalities. Our comprehensive solution, based on machine learning, covers the experience before, during and after the visit. We offer tailor-made support. Convious thus enables culture and leisure operators to connect with their visitors. Some German parks have seen their conversion rate increase by 86% in the space of a year.
You recently raised $12 million (€10.5 million) in a Series A financing round, led by Begin Capital. What purpose ?
Camiel Kraan : Convious is already a beneficiary. However, we have decided to accelerate our growth, hence this fundraising. We want to grow faster internationally. In each of our markets, we are creating the equivalent of local businesses, by setting up teams on site. We are already in Amsterdam, in London, in Germany, in Lithuania. And we have just opened an office in Nantes, managed by Laure. We also plan to establish ourselves in the United States in 2022.
Laure de Montalier : There are three of us in France, and we are continuing to recruit. Two French parks already use Convious.
We want to be at all points of contact – Camiel Kraan.
What is your business model?
Camiel Kraan : We take a commission per transaction, which varies according to the size of the company, the volumes of transactions and the options.
What are your results, in terms of transactions?
Camiel Kraan : We recorded 30 million reservations in 2020, very marked by the health crisis. And much more this year. Our solution developed while the crisis, for two years, contributed to the development of local tourism. I think it will take years to return to pre-Covid levels of international tourism. It is therefore important for leisure and culture operators to invest in the digital experience. This is what we do, by analyzing the data, to then optimize revenue per visitor.
Do you develop offline services, too?
Camiel Kraan : In 2021, we developed offline solutions to meet all market expectations. Players like Snowworld use our system for payment in restaurants, for example. We want to be at all points of contact for customers and employees. We must be the best in the leisure and culture market, in terms of all experiences.
