Travel technology SME TravelNest plans to invest £7 million to establish its operations in Edinburgh in a move that could create more than 80 skilled jobs.

Public Finance and Digital Economy Minister, Kate Forbes, announced today that the company has secured £2.3 million in R&D and RSA grant funding from Scottish Enterprise. The contribution to the company’s investment could help accelerate growth.

Innovation at Heart

Announcing the grant, Kate Forbes said that companies such as TravelNest have “innovation at the heart of their business” and are critical to the Scottish economy.

“That’s why the Scottish Government is supporting businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that come from our established strengths in innovation and technological change,” she said.

Forbes added: “The £2.3 million R&D and RSA funding from Scottish Enterprise will help TravelNest to realise its growth aspiration and supports our vision of a Scotland that stimulates innovation, welcomes investment and promotes its digital industries.”

Michael Cannon, Head of Innovation Grants, RSA and Open Innovation at Scottish Enterprise, echoed the Minister’s statement, stating: “TravelNest is a fantastic example of a young, innovative company with global ambitions to be a leader in its market.”

TravelNest

TravelNest offers is a platform that enables vacation rental hosts to access smarter, hands-free marketing. The product uses data and technology to make marketing decision for its users that could improve performance for their properties.

The R&D project will focus on improving data flow from TravelNest to its various partners, as well as building intelligence to increase the performance of customers’ marketing.

The project will also aim to increase the efficiency of customer on-boarding, the company announced.

Doug Stephenson, CEO of TravelNest, said the grant will enable the company to branch out into global markets and increase product development, customer acquisition and more.

He said: “To achieve our goal of winning in a global market, we need to move extremely quickly. Speed is critical in all aspects of our business, product development, customer acquisition, recruitment and so on.

“By moving fast in these areas, we will increase our probability of achieving that goal. This grant, along with equity investment, will help enable that. We’re excited about the future we’re building for ourselves here in Edinburgh. We have built an exceptional team here and will continue to maintain a high talent bar as we grow.”