Automatic ticket processing company, Redeam, has successfully raised US$7.7M in series A funding, led by Vertical Venture Partners with Thayer Ventures, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Tallwave Capital and Peninsula Ventures in participation.
Redeam develops technology that automates ticket processing for tours and attractions sold by third party distributors. Its product is an easily integrated, mobile- or tablet-based solution that scans and validates vouchers from any reseller and instantly issues a ticket.
It acts are further evidence still of the level of attention currently dedicated to accelerating the development of the tours and activities space in online travel (growth projected to reach $183 billion by 2020, Phocuswright).
With this new funding, Redeam intends to expand its team to assist in signing more tours and activities suppliers, as well as build brand awareness. It will also be used to enhance its product offerings, and sales and business development efforts.
“We’re thrilled to start scaling our solution, which can enable any tour or activity company to dramatically improve their customer experience, streamline their operations and grow their channel sales,” said Kevin McLaughlin (CEO and co-founder, Redeam).
“Not only are we solving a very expensive problem for suppliers; we’re boosting resellers’ ability to sell mobile tickets, creating happier customers and reducing paper use for everyone.”
The solution is designed to overcome issues of fraud, long lines and negative reviews that culminate in an eventual loss of revenue for attractions. Redeam’s solution is built to save time and money often lost to reconciling third-party voucher printouts, which demand high levels of manpower and maintenance. The company monetises by collecting a fee from the supplier on each voucher processed.
“The tours and activities sector is long overdue for innovation and disruption,” said Chris Hemmeter, managing director of Thayer Ventures. “We’re happy to participate in this round for Redeam, whose technology solution is positioned to catapult this sector into the mobile age and bring significant benefits to companies throughout the space.”
Launched in spring of last year, Redeam has seen more than 30% growth in the number of vouchers processed month-over-month. It has also already won three awards at the Phocuswright Conference last year, including: the General Catalyst Award for Travel Innovation, the Award for Travel Innovation (Startup Category) and the Summit People’s Choice Award for Innovation.
Barney Harford (COO, Uber), John Love (former CTO at Concur), Russ Sach (member of the founding team at Expedia), Thomas See (Chief Revenue Officer at Live Nation Entertainment), and Rob Torres (Managing Director, Google Travel) are also current investors.
Image credit: Getty images
