Lighthouse Intelligence becomes Belgium's fifth unicorn

Following in the footsteps of Collibra, Odoo, team.blue and Deliverect, it's now the turn of the Ghent-based start-up to achieve unicorn status, thanks to a new $370 million investment from an American fund. Its capital has now passed the one billion mark, both in dollars and in euros.

Founded in Ghent in 2012 by Gino Engels, Matthias Geeroms and Adriaan Coppens, Lighthouse first expanded in the UK and then went global, with twelve entities including major bridgeheads in the USA, Spain and Singapore. It employs a total of 700 people, 270 of which are based in Belgium.

This start-up specialises in developing a platform for international travel and hospitality professionals. Its 70,000 customers include hotel chains and independent operators offering accommodation to travellers.

Among the various services and tools the platform offers to optimise bookings, it's their ability to advise on the best price according to the time of year and the location that makes the Ghent-based company particularly attractive to hotel managers of all sizes, thanks to software that enables prices to be adjusted in real time in line with market conditions.

With this new capital injection, Lighthouse plans to extend its global coverage to Asia and the Pacific, while developing its innovation and service offerings.