Edinburgh traveltech Criton to create jobs with seven-figure funds

Travel technology firm Criton has unveiled plans to drive expansion by targeting a “significant seven-figure” investment round and creating up to 20 jobs.

Criton chief executive Julie Grieve outside the traveltech's Edinburgh office at Codebase. Picture: Alan Rennie

The Edinburgh business, which provides a guest engagement app service to the hospitality sector, has announced it is seeking external investment to develop its product offering and build its international presence.

Criton currently employs 24 staff at offices in Edinburgh and London, and is now planning to create between 15 and 20 jobs over the next two to three years.

Its tech currently operates in more than 5,000 rooms across 130 hotels and serviced apartment locations, with clients including Philema Hospitality, which runs a portfolio of hotels and spas in south-west England, and Edinburgh’s Tigerlily Boutique Hotel.

The “traveltech” firm recently expanded its executive team with the appointment of chief technology officer Dwayne Pascal, who has previously worked at Vodafone, Amazon and Skyscanner, and sales director Laura Sullivan-Denham, who is said to bring “a wealth of knowledge in the sale of technology products”, including software-as-a-service platforms.

Criton chief executive Julie Grieve said: “As a fast-growing and ambitious company, we are keen to further develop our technology offering. Later this year we will be seeking to raise a seven figure sum in external investment.

“This will enable us to roll out of further innovations which support our clients’ digital transformation requirements and the requests of their guests for choice in how they interact.

“The additional investment will also ensure we can attract new talent to help us continue growing the business on a global scale.”

Connecting with global investors

Criton secured an initial £5 million fundraising round in 2017.

Grieve was a finalist at last year’s AccelerateHER Awards, a programme to support and promote female business founders in Scotland, and also took part in a market-building trade mission to the US where she met with a number of tech entrepreneurs and investors.

She added: “I am now focused on attracting investors who understand both the complexity of the hospitality technology landscape and Criton’s vision of making technology affordable for hotels, which is crucial in such a fragmented sector.

“Last year’s AccelerateHER trade mission to New York and Boston was particularly helpful in connecting us with some key players in the global travel tech sector and within the US investment community.”

Jackie Waring, chief executive of Investing Women, the organisers of the AccelerateHER Awards, said: “Criton is a great example of a thriving and dynamic female-founded Scottish business.”

The semi-finalists for this year’s AccelerateHER Awards will be announced next month, with three winners set to be unveiled in March.