Hotel-tech startup Levels secures €100k from Enterprise Ireland to help independent hotels boost profit margins

Pictured L-R: Micheál Dunne and Shane Doherty

The hotel revenue intelligence platform, founded by an actuary and a software engineer, has 20 Irish hotels signed up and launches officially this Wednesday, 4 November.

Levels, a Kilkenny company that helps independent hotels price their rooms and fill quiet nights, has secured €100,000 from Enterprise Ireland's Pre-Seed Start Fund.

Founded in July 2025 by actuary Shane Doherty FSAI and software engineer Micheál Dunne, Levels already has 20 Irish hotels signed up ahead of its official launch this week, including the Armada Hotel, Parknasilla Resort & Spa, Fernhill Hotel & Estate, and Kinsale Hotel & Spa. Doherty, the CEO, spent nine years building forecasting and pricing models during his actuarial career, while Dunne, the CTO, spent six years building enterprise software for multinationals in Dublin.

Levels uses an actuarial model to forecast demand and recommend the optimal rate for every room in the hotel over the next 365 days. When a night looks quiet, it sends targeted offers to The Guest Community, its own network of guests, at 5% commission, compared with 15 to 25% commission for online travel agencies. Hotels also earn 2.5% commission on every future booking made through The Guest Community by guests they sign up. Guests can join for free at theguestcommunity.com.

We spoke to over 40 hoteliers before we built anything, and the same things came up every time, said Doherty

They knew they were leaving money on the table with their room rates, but they didn't have the time or the tools to price every night properly. On top of that, they were paying too much in commission to online travel agencies and felt there was nothing they could do about it. We developed our business model around fixing that. Forecasting demand and optimising pricing is what I've done my whole career, so this was a problem I knew how to solve.

Levels has won four awards in its first year, including the South-East regional award at this year's National Enterprise Awards along with the Kilkenny County Enterprise Award for 2026.

We found Levels excellent to deal with. They helped set up everything so it was very easy and the platform is fantastic, said Michael O'Neill, Co-proprietor of Fernhill Hotel & Estate.

Over the past few months, we have seen a noticeable increase in both occupancy and revenue, said Claire Berrill, Deputy General Manager of The Lakeside Manor.

Donnchadh Cullinan, Divisional Manager for Technology and Services at Enterprise Ireland, said: Enterprise Ireland is delighted to support Levels through our Pre-Seed Start Fund. Shane and Micheál bring strong technical and commercial expertise to a real challenge facing independent hotels, and their early traction with Irish customers is impressive. We look forward to working with the team as they grow in Ireland and expand into international markets.

This investment allows us to accelerate deployment across Ireland, complete key integrations and prepare for our move into the UK next year, said Doherty

Independent hotels are a huge part of Irish and European tourism, and they deserve tools that let them compete with the large chains.

Levels officially launches at the River Court Hotel, Kilkenny, at 12 noon on Wednesday 4 November, and is actively hiring for a Business Development Executive. Details can be found at levelsrevenue.com.

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