Embedded Finance Review Podcast, episode 4. Published 16 July 2024. Guest: Matt Welle, co-founder and CEO of Mews. Host: Lars Markull.
Lars Markull: Welcome to the Embedded Finance Review Podcast. I'm your host, Lars Markull. In this episode we dive into the world of travel, or hotels to be more specific. I'm speaking with Matt Welle, who's a co-founder and CEO at Mews. Mews is a software as a service and fintech product for hotels, which replaces the traditional on-prem setups.
In this podcast I'm speaking with Matt about how they started Mews, what fintech products are offered today, what fintech products they're considering to build, and how they think about bringing more of the fintech stack in-house. Let's dive in.
Welcome
Lars Markull: Hey Matt, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today, and where are you located right now?
Matt Welle: Hi. Doing really well. I'm today in Amsterdam, which is a rarity because I travel every single week. So being at home for a few days, just trying to catch up and just breathe, is actually really refreshing.
Lars Markull: I guess working in a travel company comes with a benefit, or sometimes a disadvantage, of having to travel quite a bit.
Matt Welle: It was a benefit when I started, and now in my forties it's actually a downside. The travel is just so intense that I'm like, less would be great.
What Mews is
Lars Markull: Let's kick us off, and maybe you can give us a little bit of an elevator pitch of Mews. Obviously your company targets hotels in the travel industry. Quite curious to understand what kind of hotels you directly serve, what the product is you're offering, and how customers use it.
Matt Welle: Yes. You think about your typical experience at a hotel. You walk in, and then in the lobby you find the reception desk, and then you start queuing up, and then you hope that someone will look up from their desk and then ask you about your passport and start punching your personal data into a system.