![[Updated] ZUZU Hospitality Solutions raises US$3.7M in Series A led by WaveMaker Partners](https://www.webintravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/zuzu-hospitality-1066x440.png)
Online hospitality management startup ZUZU Hospitality Solutions has announced it has raised US$3.7M in Series A, led by Wavemaker Partners, to help it expand into three key markets.
Access Ventures and Line Ventures, as well as other existing investors, Golden Gate Ventures, Convergence Venture, and Alpha JWC Ventures participated in the funding round. Previously, the startup raised its seed round in 2017 (US$2M) for its product development.
The new funding will be used to expand the business in new markets within APAC, specifically Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. Currently, ZUZU Hospitality Solutions is based in Singapore, with operations in Indonesia and Taiwan.
To lead its new markets, the startups has appointed veterans in the industry, Jake Coleiro as Country Manager for Australia; and Prae Wattanalapa as Country Manager for Thailand.
Vikram Malhi, co-founder of ZUZU said, “ZUZU is very excited to have Jake and Prae on board to lead our growth in Australia and Thailand. They have a proven record of furthering the online ambitions of hotels and will ensure we deliver a locally relevant solution for yield management in these markets.
ZUZU’s expansion into these three markets highlights its aim to serve the needs of independent hotels in both developed and developing markets, so that it can address challenges faced by hotels at all stages of online maturity.
In emerging markets, many younger hotels for example, do not yet have the technological infrastructure in place to really get started with online distribution, said Malhi. ZUZU’s solutions will help them get a foot on that ladder. In Indonesia, for example, indirect makes up the minority of independent hotel bookings, presenting a massive opportunity. As online travel market matures, this number is expected to increase sharply, and ZUZU wants to help hotels reach that potential.
Meanwhile in ‘advanced’ markets like Australia, where hotels already have an estimated 50-60% of bookings driven by OTAs, ZUZU’s solutions will primarily serve to optimise those channels even further. “It’s hard for an independent hotel to hire, retain and pay a good revenue manager… but you need that revenue manager skillset… that’s where we can come in and add value to them.”
“When Indonesia hotels catch up to Australian hotels, we’re ready for them… currently, the biggest emphasis we have is to create technology that essentially eliminates the need for a hotel to have anything other than their onsite technology,” said Malhi.
Co-founded by Dan Lynn and Vikram Malhi in 2015, ZUZU Hospitality Solutions delivers an outsourced yield management for independent hotels. It couples a proprietary hotel operating system with a system model delivered by specialist revenue managers to deliver an average uplift of 30% in online revenue.
ZUZU targets a large market of independent hoteliers, the vast majority of which (>90%) don’t have any revenue management software to support their business. ZUZU aims to address that gap by offering a complete outsourced yield management solution, specifically designed for independent hotels.
“It includes everything from a PMS , to a channel manager to obtain rates and availability, to monitoring their review scores, competitive pricing, automating revenue management… the challenge is around technologies that can cater to 90% of what a developed market would need from us,” Malhi added. “The long-term goal is a hotel that works with us would not need any other piece of technology in terms of managing the hotel online.”
Simply put, ZUZU wants to take out complexity of distribution, rates, and online presence, so hotels can focus on their onsite operations. The data ZUZU can aggregate on their behalf can also be used to improve their operations too and in doing so, build a strong working relationship with their client hotels.
“Rather than dropping a piece of software on a hotel and expecting them to figure it out for themselves, we provide both the software and the service,” commented Lynn.
“We let hoteliers outsource their yield optimisation so they can focus on hospitality and delivering a great experience day to day. We are also the only partner of independent hotels that delivers revenue upside for them, making us true hotel partners for the long term.”
While the independent hotelier market is estimated at 300,000 globally, ZUZU has its eyes firmly set on Asia, specifically the 10,000 independent hotels in Thailand, Malaysia (5000) and Australia (5000).
