Barcelona-based travel startup ByHours has announced an €8 million funding round, led by Mexican investors Angel Ventures and DILA Capital, which will be used to grow operations in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, as well as to expand into the US.

One use case that is fuelling Latin American growth is the offer of a more secure place for professionals to rest while travelling through the region, rather than working from a local cafe.

Cofounder Guillermo Gaspart believes that the hotel industry needs to wake up and innovate in the right places, saying that too much energy is going into technical solutions, such as booking software.

“Airbnb is the real threat to the hospitality industry right now. Hotels need to do something different, and maybe something Airbnb can’t do. I can’t imagine Airbnb offering a three-hour stay because they don’t have housekeeping, reception; it’s more complicated.”

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