Hoken

Hoken, founded in 2022, is a hotel exchange and marketplace platform that aims to tackle the shortage of hotel rooms during significant events. It enables consumers to purchase hotel rooms ahead of time and gives them the option to trade or profit from the room if they cannot attend the event. Secondary buyers benefit from the availability of in-demand rooms that sell out quickly. The company offers a "Buyback Guarantee" feature, allowing users to sell back their reservations to Hoken at the original price if they cannot use or sell them, subject to certain conditions. Hoken features “Room Drops”—limited releases of rooms in the marketplace—and allows monitoring of room demand closer to the event. As the rooms are traded, Hoken provides real-time market pricing and insights, and it charges a commission from the buyer and seller when a room is resold/traded. As of 2023, Hoken had over 2,000 hotel rooms available on its platform, with a focus on North American markets.

Secondary market sales are limited to reservations made on the platform. Since its launch, Hoken has established partnerships with both independent and prominent hotels. Hoken is aimed at serving large events with substantial numbers of participants, having launched its services by providing hotel room access for several popular events, such as New Year's Eve at Times Square, Sundance Film Festival in Park City, SXSW in Austin, Coachella in La Quinta, Art Basel in Miami, and Firefly Music Festival in Dover.