A digital dawn for African hospitality
From five budget apartments near Nairobi's airport to a pan-African platform helping hotels step into a digital future.
In 2013, Norwegian entrepreneurs Endre Opdal and Håvar Bauck identified a significant gap in Nairobi's hospitality market: the absence of budget accommodations near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). To address this, they leased and furnished five apartments in Syokimau's Five Star Estate, establishing the Nairobi Airport Hotel.
This venture was among the first short-term rental services in East Africa, predating the widespread recognition of platforms like Airbnb in the region. Leveraging online platforms such as Booking.com and Expedia, Opdal and Bauck marketed their property effectively, emphasizing features like complimentary airport transfers.
"By 2014, Nairobi Airport Hotel had become the most-booked property on Booking.com in Nairobi, surpassing established international hotels in the city."
The concept of offering digital marketing solutions to hotels came as a natural extension of their success. Recognizing the potential to replicate their digital marketing success on a broader scale, the duo incorporated Savanna Sunrise Ltd. in Dubai in 2014.
Savanna Sunrise quickly became a pioneer in digital hotel marketing across Africa. Generating rapid initial growth in Nairobi, they soon expanded to Kampala and Kigali. By 2015, Savanna Sunrise had partnered with approximately 750 hotels across East Africa, offering services such as online booking platforms, revenue management, and digital marketing strategies.
2016 — 2017
By 2016, both founders had moved into full-time roles at Savanna Sunrise. Håvar Bauck and Endre Opdal were now fully committed to developing the company from a rapidly growing digital marketing venture into a scalable hospitality technology business serving independent hotels across Africa.
2016
A strategic partnership with eZee
In early 2016, Savanna Sunrise deepened its strategic technology partnership with eZee Technosys following meetings at eZee’s headquarters in Surat, India. eZee’s hotel management and distribution technology became an important part of the company’s service platform, strengthening its ability to support reservations, online distribution and the operational digitization of hotels at scale.
This partnership provided the technology foundation Savanna Sunrise needed as it expanded beyond hotel marketing into a broader range of technology-enabled hospitality services.
Later in 2016, Savanna Sunrise spent six months negotiating and documenting a major investment transaction intended to finance its next stage of growth.
By December 2016, the transaction documents had been signed and the founders were waiting for the first investment tranche to be transferred. The transaction then collapsed before the funds were received, leaving the company with a significant financing gap at a critical point in its development.
Following the failed investment, the founders completed several angel funding rounds to bridge the financing gap. Support from existing allies and new investors, including investors in Norway and Nigeria, provided the capital and strategic backing needed to preserve the company’s momentum and pursue a more durable path forward.
These rounds served as bridge financing, enabling Savanna Sunrise to move from the failed institutional investment toward the acquisition and restructuring that followed.
In 2017, Savanna Sunrise entered into a proposed 50/50 merger with HotelOga, a Nigerian competitor supported by a Polish technology company. The announced merger remained subject to due diligence and was never completed.
During due diligence, Savanna Sunrise identified material concerns and withdrew from the proposed merger. The process also established that HotelOga’s Nigerian commercial operation and its Polish technology partner were separate companies.
Rather than proceed with the HotelOga merger, Savanna Sunrise opened direct negotiations with the Polish technology company, Hotel Online Sp. z o.o., and acquired it through a smaller equity transaction.
The acquisition brought together Savanna Sunrise’s African commercial footprint and hospitality expertise with the Polish company’s technology and product capabilities.
The combined business adopted the HotelOnline name, marking Savanna Sunrise’s evolution from an East African digital hotel marketing company into a pan-African hospitality technology platform. The rebrand reflected the company’s broader ambition to help independent African hotels digitize their operations, distribution, revenue management and guest acquisition.
Later in 2017, HotelOnline completed a USD 250,000 equity crowdfunding round. It was the first successful equity crowdfunding round by a startup in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The campaign broadened HotelOnline’s investor base and provided capital for its next stage of product development and regional expansion. It also represented an important milestone for alternative startup financing in the region.
2013 — 2022
Explore the milestones that turned one airport-stay concept into a digital hospitality platform for Africa.
2013 · The beginning
Five apartments in Syokimau became Nairobi Airport Hotel, an early short-term-stay concept serving travellers using JKIA. The venture demonstrated the value of direct online distribution for independent hospitality businesses.
Nairobi Airport Hotel · Founding archive
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Today, HotelOnline is a leading African traveltech company working with 6,000 hotels across 27 African markets. For the complete story of how it was built and continues to transform African hospitality, visit Håvar Bauck's detailed account of the company's evolution.
Continue the HotelOnline story