Meet the founder who turned his frustrating night shifts as a 14-year-old at his family's hotel into a $2.5 billion company

Richard Valtr created one of the leading hospitality technology enterprises in the world, driven by a desire to eliminate the frustrations he faced during his teenage night shifts.

"I vividly remember being 14 years old during summer vacations, feeling that the situation was incredibly unfair," Valtr recounted at Mews' Unfold conference in Amsterdam. "My frustration was directed at the systems."

While peers enjoyed carefree summers, young Valtr toiled through nightly shifts at his family's boutique hotel in Prague, painstakingly reconciling credit card slips at 1 a.m. as part of the laborious "night audit." This nightly obligation, which lasted approximately two hours, was a routine that had to be completed every single night.

This dreaded task ultimately inspired Valtr to establish Mews, a hotel and hospitality management software now utilized by over 15,000 properties globally. Valtr sought to create an efficient solution to the tedious manual process of verifying slips. "I redirected my energy toward improving the actual tasks," he noted, "because it felt so inefficient."

From Night Receptionist to Unicorn

The concept for Mews emerged in 2012, when Valtr sought to innovate the industry while drawing insights from his family's hotel, Emblem Hotel, located in central Prague. It was here that he recognized that property management systems seemed outdated, resembling technology from the 1990s. When he looked for an updated solution, nothing met his needs. "I thought, 'Why not build it myself?'" With former hotelier CEO Matthijs Welle joining him in 2013, Valtr gradually grew Mews across Europe and the United States.

January 2026 marked a significant milestone for Mews, securing $300 million in a Series D funding round, thus elevating the company's valuation to $2.5 billion and solidifying its status as a unicorn within the hospitality technology sector. This funding journey has reached a total of $710 million over 14 rounds, which includes a $75 million investment led by Tiger Global in 2025, alongside a €101 million round the previous year.

"There’s a compelling reason we have an engaged community," Valtr stated. "The success of Mews is inherently tied to its community and the individuals who share a strong passion for our mission."

Valtr attributes Mews' rapid expansion to the fact that the software is developed by professionals with industry experience. "One of the major challenges in this industry," Valtr elaborated, "is that the system creators often lack practical experience working at the reception desk."

Specifications of legacy systems are typically determined by individuals in positions of authority—such as heads of finance, general managers, or franchise owners—who often seek control rather than considering the needs of front-line staff. Valtr noted that individuals with considerable power in a hotel frequently impose certain requirements without understanding the on-the-ground realities, prioritizing control over the practicalities of enhancing operational efficiency and guest satisfaction.

For instance, he highlighted that a front desk manager's responsibilities include efficiently checking in guests, ensuring room readiness, and organizing necessary transportation all while being briefed on a guest's arrival time. Valtr critiqued many existing systems for their emphasis on minimizing logistical burdens rather than enhancing authentic guest interactions.

"We consistently prioritize this perspective," he asserted, referencing the corporate practice of "dogfooding," or utilizing one's own product prior to releasing it to clients. "We ask ourselves, how do we ensure that our practices align with what we advocate?"

This approach has earned Mews recognition as the Best PMS (Property Management System) by Hotel Tech Report for three consecutive years, and as Valtr noted, "all systems now adopt aspects of our model."

Currently, Mews supports approximately 15,000 hotel clients across 85 countries, processes nearly $20 billion in annual transactions, and has recorded over 42 million guest check-ins. The company's SaaS gross profit grew by 55% in the year leading up to the Series D funding. Valtr, who continues to identify as a "frustrated hotelier," maintains that his mission has remained consistent since those restless nights at 1 a.m. in Prague.

"We aim to ensure that every hotel we partner with is positioned to be as profitable as possible."