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Travel Tech Veteran Anurag Mittal Joins Guestara as Co-founder After Pre-Seed Round

• ByStartupStory     |    August 5, 2025

Anurag Mittal has transitioned from early investor to Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Guestara, the AI-powered guest management platform that recently closed its pre-seed funding round led by industry veteran Sanjay Ghare.

Mittal, who orchestrated Vervotech’s 10X revenue growth and eventual acquisition by Constellation Software, was initially part of the investment pool backing Guestara. After evaluating the opportunity deeper, he decided to join full-time to lead the company’s global expansion.

From Investment to Partnership

“We’ve evaluated multiple startups as a group of angel investors,” Anurag revealed. “But when we saw Guestara hit 500+ properties in just 6 months—faster than most SaaS companies—while targeting a $67 billion opportunity in hotel guest management, we knew this wasn’t just an investment. This was the next big thing.”

The decision to join came naturally. Anurag had been advising CEO Akshay Dekate on strategic decisions and global expansion opportunities for months. Their collaboration made it clear that Anurag’s expertise in scaling travel tech companies globally was exactly what Guestara needed for its next phase.

“Anurag was already deeply involved in shaping our international strategy,” Akshay recalled. “His transition from advisor and investor to co-founder felt like the natural evolution of our partnership.”

India Success to Global Ambition

While Guestara’s first year focused on establishing product-market fit in India—landing marquee clients across the hospitality sector—Anurag’s mandate is clear: take Guestara global.

Guestara has already onboarded hotels and short-term rentals as beta clients, with 2,000+ rooms collectively, including three renowned hotel chains, reporting a double digit increase in operational efficiency, significant rise in guest satisfaction, eventually contributing to incremental revenue.

“India demonstrated strong product adoption and customer satisfaction,” Anurag stated. “The rapid growth validated that our AI-powered solution addresses universal challenges hotels face worldwide. Now we’re ready to scale internationally.”

Technology Differentiation

The platform includes six core modules: AI-powered messaging across channels, 100% paperless check-ins, intelligent upselling, real-time feedback management, a unified inbox consolidating communications from WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Email, SMS, Booking.com, and Airbnb, and a no-download guest app accessible via simple links.

Proven Leadership Team

Anurag joins an accomplished founding team: CEO Akshay Dekate (18+ products built, multiple patents), Kajal Makhija, Neelaksh Gupta & Rajat Maheshwari. Together, they bring deep technical expertise, domain knowledge, and proven scaling experience.

As CCO, Anurag will oversee Global Partnerships, Revenue Operations & Customer Success.

“The opportunity is clear—every hotel globally struggles with the same challenges,” Anurag explained. “They’re losing revenue on missed upsells, drowning in manual tasks, and watching guests choose competitors with better digital experiences. Our solution delivers value whether you’re in Mumbai, Miami, or Melbourne.”

About Guestara:

Founded by CEO Akshay Dekate and three other co-founders, Guestara offers an AI-enabled guest management platform that centralizes and automates key hospitality functions for hotels, resorts, and short-term rentals.

 

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