TrustYou Completes Management Buyout, Splits From Recruit Group

TrustYou revealed on January 25th, 2023, that they had completed a management repurchase of shares in a recent acquisition with the help of famous technology investor Ventech. As a result, they will no longer be part of the Recruit Business, a renowned Japanese technology group.

Recruit purchased TrustYou in 2017, intending to invest and expand in the international hospitality and tourism business. Recruit moved outside of Japan in search of “Opportunities for Life” all around the world. TrustYou was founded in 2008 as a basic start-up and has since led the way in travel technology with a strong leadership team that appealed to Recruit and their ideals of entrepreneurship within their company holdings and a diverse portfolio of software firms.

Recruit is satisfied with TrustYou’s progress and sees a bright future for them as they continue to innovate and focus on the customer journey. Because Recruit’s portfolio strategy no longer fits with TrustYou’s further development, the team was enthusiastic about the management buyout.

With new ownership comes a new vision for the company. Ben Jost, CEO of TrustYou, states, “We see TrustYou’s future in helping hospitality and travel to make guests happy. Today’s core focus is to provide a best-in-class platform for hoteliers, DMO’s and travel partners to measure and act on guest happiness via surveys, reviews, and guest communication. We will also be very active in acquiring and building more best-of-breed technology and tools to further increase guest happiness and revenue while decreasing operational cost.” Rounding out the remaining capital contribution, Ullrich Kastner, Founder and CEO of MyHotelShop, also participated.

Seeing the value in this possibility, venture company Ventech spearheaded the acquisition financing, with the help of Ventech Managing Partner Christian Claussen and Jan Webering of BauwensX. Ben Jost, the founder, and CEO of TrustYou is also a substantial investor in the purchase. Ullrich Kastner, Founder and CEO of MyHotelShop, made the last capital investment.