OYO acquires Copenhagen-based data science firm Danamica

Hospitality firm OYO on Monday said it has acquired Copenhagen-based data science company Danamica to expand its ability to use pricing as a key differentiator for real estate owners and customers.

The acquisition is in line with company's continued commitment to its global vacation rentals business through strategic investments in technology products, processes and people, OYO said in a statement.

With the acquisition of Danamica, OYO will be able to drive top-line growth by leveraging dynamic pricing across all its brands - OYO Home, Belvilla and DanCenter, all of them are already at the forefront of vacation rental pricing in Europe, it added.

The company, however, did not provide any financial details of the deal.

The acquisition of Danamica, "will help us be more accurate with pricing, leading to higher efficiencies and yield for our real estate owners and value for money for our millions of global guests, both everyday travellers and city dwellers, that choose an OYO Vacation Homes as their abode," OYO Vacation and Urban Homes Global Head and OYO Hotels & Homes Chief Strategy Officer Maninder Gulati said.

Data sciences across pricing, AI, and imaging sciences have been a cornerstone of OYO's proprietary revenue enhancement technology. It is also a huge missing piece in the way traditional vacation rentals industry is run, he added.

With the implementation of machine learning-enabled pricing and revenue management, customers will be able to book a vacation home at the best price, the statement said.

"Like OYO, we recognize the untapped potential in the vacation rental industry that can be fulfilled with a data-driven approach," Danamica Founders Mads Westberg and Rune Larsen said.

We are therefore confident that, "we have found the right home for us in OYO and are excited about the prospect of using our expertise in pricing and machine learning to further help OYO's continued growth and success," they added.

Similar to airlines and ride-sharing companies, OYO said it has introduced dynamic pricing in the hospitality industry to create a level-playing ground even for an independent or small hotelier or homeowner.