After all, the University of Georgia Bulldogs are making an impact in many areas, not just the football field, these days. scarlet connectis a hotel-focused startup in neighboring South Carolina that borrows the first part of its name from UGA’s iconic scarlet color.
“Connected” part? Well, it gets to the heart of what the startup is trying to do in the hospitality space.
co-founder Seth Caines says its aim is to connect hotel operators with the essential software tools they need in a one-stop-shop platform.
“Most hotels are franchises,” he told Hypepotamus. “They are family or privately owned. It’s a family run store and they don’t have a huge budget to pay for a lot of the software solutions out there.”
Scarlet Connect brings together multiple disparate solutions, from sales leads to guest messaging to credit card authorization, into one streamlined hotel management tool.
Building technology for hotels
Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Scarlet Connect grew out of Scarlet Boom, the first startup of Kines, a platform that helps sell hotels.
The Scarlet Connect is specifically designed with hoteliers and their lean budgets in mind.
Joined Kines as co-founder and CTO Patrick Stewarthas built the technical side of the business.
Kines is relatively new to the entrepreneurial world having made a career in the hospitality and tourism industry. But Charleston’s budding tech scene has been both welcome and helpful as he navigates the field.
Hospitality and tourism focused software is an area where Southeastern startups excel. The region is also home to early stage ventures such as: F3TCH (Wilmington-based startup focused on hotel guest communication and management) and stroll (Nashville-based startup working as a local tour guide).They line up with startups like Sunday, TabX, curestI want to change the restaurant side of the hospitality scene.
As one of the top tourist destinations, Charleston is also a natural place for a hospitality-focused startup like Scarlet Connect.
“For years, hospitality and tourism have driven the economy here,” added Caines. “But Charleston has really come a long way in the tech corridor.”
that corridor Recently, we have helped many tech startups to launch in the city in the SaaS, cleantech and fintech sectors.
“I’m proud of Charleston’s progress not only in terms of economic development, but also in the startup and tech industries,” Kines told Hypepotamus.
