Itai Marcipar, CEO And Co-Founder Of Pruvo, AI-Driven Solution For Hotel Post-Booking Profit Optimization!

Itai Marcipar graduated in computer science from the Technion. He is the CEO and Co-founder of Pruvo, a solution that helps travelers save money for their upcoming vacations by tracking the prices of the hotel booking they already booked and allowing them to rebook and save money when the market price drops. He is an entrepreneur by blood and heart with over 13 years of experience in managing multiple businesses in the field of IT & Development.
He was awarded 3 times a certificate of excellence from the Israeli Airforce during the obligatory military service.

In an exclusive interview with AsiaTechDaily, Itai says:

I believe that the most important thing in marketing is to analyze every part of the funnel and understand what works and what doesn’t and then adjust accordingly. Moreover, I believe that handling marketing efforts internally is a big added value to the company. As a startup, it is essential to have full control over all the aspects of the company and not to let 3rd party companies control your success!

The best advice I got is to meet and talk with as many people as possible. You never know when those networks are going to help you in the future.

My advice would be to put effort into selecting the right team! It is a long journey, and you must have great partners to it!

Read on to know more about Itai Marcipar and his journey.

Please tell me about your personal background, and What motivated you to get started with your company?

Itai Marcipar: I am an entrepreneur by blood and by heart. Since the age of 18 I was always looking to find my path. At the age of 21 I opened my first company, which is still running. During these years, I have graduated from the computer science faculty at the Technion, which is one of the leading institutes for computer science worldwide.

The idea of Pruvo started when I was planning my honeymoon. Few days after booking the hotels for the trip, I have decided to upgrade one of the rooms I have already booked, and to my surprise, I have noticed that the same room I book was around 40% off the price I paid. Thus, I have started investigating and noticed that this is something that happens in the market regularly, which led me to gather with my best friend Regev Brody (CTO), and we started working on developing Pruvo.

What is your current main product, and can you share any previous product pivot story to the current product?

Itai Marcipar: Pruvo is a solution that helps travelers save money for their upcoming vacations by tracking the prices of the hotel booking they already booked and allowing them to rebook and save money when the market price drops.

Due to multiple requests from travel companies that asked to use our services to increase profitability, we have decided to develop another product, “Pruvo Revenue Maker.” This helps travel companies increase their profitability and generate more sales by utilizing our service.

How much money have you raised in total so far? When was the recent funding round? 

Itai Marcipar: Approximately $1.5M and the recent funding round was closed by March 2020 ($1M which was lead by Seedrocket 4Founders)

How have you attracted users, and with what strategy have you grown your company from the start to now?

Itai Marcipar: We believe in social power and creating value for the customer. If your customer benefits from your product and they feel part of it, they will help you grow! The most important thing from my point of view is giving your customers the best service, and they will become your best ambassadors.

Which has been the best marketing software tool for the growth of your startup, and why? 

Itai Marcipar: We mainly use social networks to spread the word of Pruvo.

What do most startups get wrong about marketing in general?

Itai Marcipar: I believe that the most important thing in marketing is to analyze every part of the funnel and understand what works and what doesn’t and then adjust accordingly. Moreover, I believe that handling marketing efforts internally is a big added value to the company. As a startup, it is essential to have full control over all the aspects of the company and not to let 3rd party companies control your success!

What were the internal decision processes in determining when to begin fundraising, and what were the logistics for this? And how many investors have you met so far, and how did you meet these investors and which channels worked best for you?

Itai Marcipar: Fundraising for us started once we have felt we have the MVP ready to attract early investors to help us start the ball rolling. Our first funding round was done on an equity crowdfunding campaign, where we managed to raise around $500K. Those funds helped us start scaling and showing traction and expanding our product. The recent funding round was planned in advance of 8 months before the end of our runway. Since we have closed the first round, I was working on expanding my network, which helped a lot in outreaching to potential investors. Remember that your network is the key to your success, so start building your relations from day one! 

What are the biggest challenges and obstacles that you have faced in the process of fundraising? If you had to start over, what would you do differently? 

Itai Marcipar: Raising funds in Israel is not easy due to the high amount of startups and a limited number of investors. Thus we had to expand our network out of the country and start working on fundraising from investors from abroad, which is a complex mission as it requires a long time to build relations and create trust.

I would have started earlier to work on expanding the network out of the country, which could have led to a shorter fundraising time.

What are your milestones for the next round? And what are your goals for the future?

Itai Marcipar: Mainly scaling the company both on the B2C and B2B channels and demonstrate the scalability of our model.

How do you plan to expand globally?

Itai Marcipar: Our global expansion strategy is to focus mainly on partnerships with companies that can offer Pruvo’s service to its customers and in. This at the same time as expanding marketing expenses and expanding our digital presence in new territories.

What are the most common mistakes companies make with global expansion?

Itai Marcipar: I believe it is spending money on expensive marketing campaigns without analyzing the results of them.

How do you handle this COVID-19 outbreak situation for your company’s survival in the future?

Itai Marcipar: Due to the Covid-19, we have decided to halt any non-critical expenses while making the most of the existing resources.

What are the most common mistakes founders make when they start a company? 

Itai Marcipar: I believe it is not doing the market analysis before start working as well as not dedicating enough time for building a business model.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? And What advice do you have for someone who is interested in doing similar things like yours or in a similar direction?

Itai Marcipar: The best advice I got is to meet and talk with as many people as possible. You never know when those networks are going to help you in the future.

My advice would be to put effort into selecting the right team! It is a long journey, and you must have great partners to it!

What are the one or two things that you would do differently to improve your life if you could go back to 10 years ago? 

Itai Marcipar: I guess it will be to find a better balance between work and life.

You can follow Itai Marcipar here.

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