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Groupcorner offers Backyou, a cloud platform for hotels to manage group and event business. It centralizes B2B functions, automating group requests, sales proposals, contracts, invoicing, and payment tracking. Backyou integrates operational tools like BEOs and dashboards, streamlining hotel B2B management.
Antoine de Corson and Baudouin de Saint André co-founded Groupcorner in 2011, initially simplifying group accommodation. Their hospitality insight, coupled with industry changes, led to a strategic pivot. This resulted in Backyou, a dedicated solution supporting hotels with complex group sales and event management.
Backyou serves hotels across Europe, providing a unified system for group and event coordination. Groupcorner’s vision empowers hoteliers to maximize B2B efficiency and control. The company aims to reduce administrative burdens and increase group and event revenues through its digital platform.
Groupcorner has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round.
Groupcorner has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
# Groupcorner: A Hospitality Technology Company in Transition
Groupcorner is a European technology company that specialized in group accommodation booking but has pivoted its business model. Originally positioned as Europe's leading online platform for booking group accommodations (8+ people) across hotels, youth hostels, and holiday resorts[1][2], the company has fundamentally restructured its operations to focus on B2B hotel management software rather than consumer-facing booking services.
Groupcorner was built to solve a critical pain point in the hospitality industry: the complexity and inefficiency of managing group bookings and events. The company operated a marketplace connecting group travelers with accommodation providers across Europe, streamlining what had traditionally been a fragmented, manual process[3].
However, the company has since discontinued its group accommodation search service and reinvented itself around Backyou, a cloud-based software solution designed specifically for hotels to manage group and event bookings[6]. Rather than serving end consumers, Groupcorner now targets hoteliers directly, providing them with tools to handle requests, contracts, payments, and administrative workflows. Backyou already equips over 1,800 hotels throughout Europe[6].
The company's evolution reflects a strategic shift from marketplace operator to enterprise software provider:
Groupcorner's pivot reflects a broader trend in hospitality technology: the shift from consumer-facing marketplaces toward B2B SaaS solutions that address operational efficiency. Rather than competing in the crowded online travel agency space, the company identified a more defensible position in hotel operations software—a market where switching costs are higher and customer lifetime value is greater.
This repositioning also demonstrates how marketplace companies can leverage their operational insights to build more profitable, sustainable businesses. By moving upstream to serve hotels directly, Groupcorner reduced its dependence on consumer acquisition costs and positioned itself in the growing market for hospitality management software.
Groupcorner's transformation from a consumer booking platform to enterprise software provider suggests a maturing company focused on profitability and market consolidation rather than growth-at-all-costs expansion. The company's ability to retain and expand within its 1,800-hotel customer base will be critical to its success.
The future likely depends on Backyou's ability to integrate deeper into hotel operations—potentially expanding beyond group management into broader event and revenue management functions. As hotels increasingly seek unified platforms to manage complex B2B relationships, Groupcorner's specialized focus on groups and events positions it as a niche player in a larger hospitality software ecosystem.
Groupcorner has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Series A in September 2018.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2018 | $4M Series A | — | 50 Partners, ISAI, Pentagram Ventures | Announced |
Groupcorner has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Groupcorner's investors include 50 Partners, ISAI, Pentagram Ventures.