Skift Take

Hotel Engine has its sights set abroad next year to take advantage of fast-growing business travel demand.

Justin Dawes

Hotel Engine recently raised one of the year's largest rounds of capital for a travel startup: $140 million, which valued the firm at $2.1 billion. 

The Denver-based company provides a tech platform that travel managers use to book business trips. Historically, the focus has been on hotel bookings, but flights and car rentals are joining the mix starting this month. Once that happens, the company is dropping "Hotel" from its name and will go by Engine to reflect that expanded focus. 

The company also offers hotels tech tools for bookings management, marketing, dynamic pricing, and more.

Hotel Engine is focused on small- and mid-sized companies in the U.S. Skift spoke with its founder and CEO, Elia Wallen, about what comes next.

The Competition 

Hotel Engine has a lot of competitors. Navan, based in New York City, most recently raised $154 million in equity at a valuation of $9.2 billion. This year, Navan hired a former New York S