Finland-based bed bug smart technology provider Valpas has raised €1.6 million in seed funding to keep accommodations free from pests.

ActivumSG Ventures, TESI, Realty Corporation led the round, with participation from existing investors Maki.vc, Icebreaker.vc and Reaktor.

With Valpas, hotels can swap existing bed legs for Valpas’ IoT-enabled legs, which have a patented design that collects bed bugs within hours of their arrival to the area.

If bed bugs are detected, the legs notify hotel staff via smartphone, and a staffer can be sent to the room to empty the device.

In addition to helping hotels avoid financial losses and increasing guest satisfaction, the technology eliminates the need for fossil fuel-made pesticides, meaning properties can be a part of the climate crisis solution and guests can be stopped from bringing bed bugs home, where pesticides may also be used.

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“No one wants to carry bed bugs home after travels and spend thousands of euros disinfecting it,” says Martim Gois, Valpas co-founder and CEO.

“Valpas empowers hotels, travel agents and booking platforms to extend a guarantee of a bed bug-safe stay to their customers. What vaccines, masks and physical distancing are to COVID, Valpas is to bed bugs.”

Since launching the initial version of the product, Valpas has signed more than 150 hotels from brands including Pestana Hotels and Resorts, ARP Hansen Hotel Group, Autograph Collection and Design Hotels in more than 20 cities including Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Madrid.

The company says it has protected more than one million trips and more than $1 billion in revenues.

With the new funding, Valpas will extend its bed bug safety standard across more hotels and travel agents and expand its geographic footprint into the Far East and the United States.

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Originally Appeared Here