$CHECKING · Checking pivoted to GA Rooms; digital check-in for tourist apartments with regulatory moat

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10 Years Playing in the ACB, Today His Product Is in 2,500 Bars in Spain | Antonio Bustamante

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Checking pivoted to GA Rooms; digital check-in for tourist apartments with regulatory moat

2026-07-15 · 13 company · 5 thematic

sentiment

6 bull1 bear6 neu

speakers

javi

CTO and co-founder of Proxus. Studied double degree in Computer Engineering and Business Administration. Self-taught developer since childhood, built projects during university. Initially skeptical about AI-assisted development but found it valuable for startup velocity.

unknown host

Co-hosts TBPN with John; runs a daily 3-hour live show; focuses on media strategy, volume-based content, and interactive formats.

antonio bustamante

Former ACB professional basketball player (10 years, teams in Seville, Orense, Tenerife, Logroño, UK league). MBA from Hult International Business School in San Francisco (2013). Founded a bar chain at 20, served as CFO of Clamp (glamping startup backed by Vent City), co-founded Checking (digital tourist check-in, now GA Rooms). Launched Camarero in 2023, now 2,500 venues, 3.6M ARR, 45 employees.

iván

Engineer by background, moved into product/design/strategy. Built first Checking prototype with Antonio. Joined Wola as CPO during fundraise, helped rebuild product and launch tutoring marketplace; left when Wola pivoted to advertising model (90%+ Spanish university penetration). Joined Camarero to build full-stack hospitality operating system.

quote

“Montamos checking y con checking lo que hicimos fue digitalizar el proceso de entrada, sobre todo remoto... la hipótesis era... haces una funcionalidad mejor que nadie, sobre todo tiene un componente regulatorio que es un rollo... y haces…”

—antonio bustamante

now playing · $CHECKING

$HONEYbullish· medium· posjavi

Hosts are investors in Honey (hospitality tech) alongside Camarero

Javi and co-host are investors in Honey, another hospitality technology company, indicating conviction in the vertical SaaS hospitality thesis.

$CAMARERObullish· high· posjavi

Camarero targets 6M ARR after 3.6M traction in Spanish hospitality SaaS

All-in-one vertical SaaS for independent bars/restaurants (<10 employees) in Spain, leveraging regulatory tailwinds (Verifactu, time tracking) and QR-driven viral adoption to beco…

$HOLDEDbullish· high· posunknown host

SeedRocket backed Holded early; host uses it across all portfolio companies

Holded provides unified business management (invoicing, HR, banking, treasury) for SMBs/startups, replacing fragmented tools; SeedRocket invested early and host uses it across all…

$CLAMPneutral· lowantonio bustamante

Antonio Bustamante served as CFO of Clamp (glamping startup) backed by Vent City

Clamp built singular glamping accommodations in US from Seville; raised capital from Vent City (Ventity); Antonio joined as CFO 2014-2018 to learn startup operations before foundi…

$CHECKINGneutral· mediumantonio bustamante

Checking pivoted to GA Rooms; digital check-in for tourist apartments with regulatory moat

Checking built digital check-in for tourist apartments (regulatory requirement), distributed via revenue-share with PMS software; investors included Carlos Blanco, Encomenda, JME,…

$WOLAneutral· mediumiván

Wola pivoted from student notes marketplace to 90%+ market share ad platform

Wola started as student notes monetization platform, attempted LatAm expansion and tutoring marketplace, but found core value was brand/reach with university students (90%+ penetr…

$COVER-MANAGERbullish· mediumjavi

Cover Manager dominates Spanish restaurant reservations with incredible metrics

Cover Manager is the category leader in restaurant reservations in Spain with exceptional metrics; Camarero competes by offering full-stack integration (operations + growth + cont…

$AXONbullish· mediumantonio bustamante

Axon participated in Camarero's 2M EUR round alongside BNEL

Axon Partners Group co-led Camarero's early 2025 2M EUR round with existing investors BNEL, targeting 6M ARR milestone.

$BNELbullish· mediumantonio bustamante

BNEL backed Camarero from early stages and doubled down in 2M round

BNEL (likely Bonsai Ventures or similar) invested in Camarero pre-revenue and participated in the 2M EUR 2025 round, signaling strong conviction in the vertical SaaS hospitality t…

$TOASTbearish· mediumantonio bustamante

Toast unlikely to enter Europe due to capped payment spreads vs US 2.6%

Toast's US model relies on 2.6-2.7% payment processing spreads; European regulation caps spreads at 0.3-0.4%, making the fintech-led model uneconomic in Spain/Europe.

$VENT-CITYneutral· lowunknown host

Vent City backed Clamp glamping startup where Antonio was CFO

Vent City (Ventity) provided growth capital to Clamp, enabling shift to capital-intensive cabin-building model; Antonio observed venture-backed scaling from CFO seat.

$ENCOMENDAneutral· lowunknown host

Encomenda (Carlos Blanco) invested in Checking/GA Rooms

Encomenda, Carlos Blanco's fund, participated in Checking's round alongside JME and Tom, validating the regulatory-driven tourist apartment check-in thesis.

$JMEneutral· lowunknown host

JME Ventures invested in Checking/GA Rooms tourist apartment check-in

JME Ventures backed Checking's regulatory moat strategy for digital tourist check-in, alongside Encomenda and Tom.