Singapore-based ZUZU Hospitality Solutions (ZUZU), which provides a revenue platform for independent hotels, has bagged $9 million in Series B funding led by venture capital (VC) firm SoftBank Ventures Asia, according to a statement.
Other investors including Atinum Partners and existing backers Wooshin Venture Investment, Visor Ventures and JG Digital Equity Ventures participated in this round.
ZUZU will use the proceeds for product improvement and expansion of its market presence as it aims to reach 5,000 partners by the end of 2024.
Furthermore, the company plans to make strategic investments in AI tools to improve pricing and partner experience and automate guest management.
Founded in 2016 by former Expedia employees Dan Lynn and Vikram Malhi, ZUZU raised a $1-million angel investment round in the same year.
A year later, the company raised $1.9 million in a seed funding round led by Singapore and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners. Additional new investors in the round include Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures, along with both Alpha JWC and Convergence Ventures of Indonesia.
In 2019, ZUZU announced its expansion to Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia after closing a S$5 million ($3.7 million) Series A funding round led by Wavemaker Partners.
ZUZU founder and CEO Vikram Malhi said “The round’s oversubscription reflects the strong confidence our investors have in our vision and capabilities. This substantial financial boost will enable us to innovate our offerings further, accelerate our growth trajectory and support more independent hotels in increasing their revenue.”
According to Statista.com, in 2022, the online travel market in Southeast Asia is estimated at approximately $17 billion and is expected to reach $44 billion by 2025.
Among other deals in the sector this year, travel tech startup Mystifly closed its pre-Series B funding round at $8 million, following the latest capital infusion of $4.7 million from CSVP (Cornerstone Venture Partners).
In March this year, The Edgeof, a newly formed ecosystem builder and venture capital entity, and SoftBank Group Corp announced that The Edgeof will acquire SoftBank Ventures Asia Corp to establish a pan-Asian ecosystem for pioneering startups.
