SiteMinder has landed a fresh injection of capital which, without disclosing the exact amount, it says is “well in excess” of $69 million.
The round for the hotel distribution and channel management company was led by BlackRock with Australian Super, Ellerston and Pendal Group also participating.
According to a statement the funding values SiteMinder at about $762 million (AU$1.1 billion).
This is the first time the Sydney, Australia-based company has brought in new investors with TCV providing investment over several previous rounds.
Speaking to Phocuswire, Mike Ford, chairman and co-founder of SiteMinder, talks of the opportunity for its technology globally and the desire to accelerate the growth of the business.
“We were looking for world class investors that could not only fund this round but could be with us into the future in terms of the ambitions we have going forward.
“There are potential moves down the track in terms of public markets. Having a strong relationship with good investors who have global reach and a strong global track record as well as strong local investors is really beneficial.”
Ford adds that it is not committing to anything regarding a public listing at this stage, but that it’s “very real and strong possibility for the company” in the future.
“We would do it at a time when market conditions are right. Some of the innovations we are bringing to market currently, will bed down in the next year or two and give us a really great platform off which to do things like an IPO.”
Intelligent business
The funding is earmarked for investment in sales and marketing, with a view to expansion in existing markets as well as entering new markets.
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A further element to the strategy is research and development of its products to help hotels customers cut through the complexities of online distribution and bring more guests to their properties.
Ford says: “The future is in evolving to a highly intelligent platform that guides hotels proactively in how to run their business better.
“It’s not just providing the plumbing or toolset to execute but giving guidance through really smart intelligent interactions with the hotel in the right context giving them the right next best action to improve their business so business intelligence is a huge part of what we’re building into our platforms going forward.”
He adds that the company will continue to develop its ecosystem through its app store which was unveiled last November, so that hotel customers can work with the partners they want.
SiteMinder also wants to develop its work with chain hotels and plans to build out a more “holistic offering” for those customers.
The coming months will be about “honing and enhancing” its existing technology, according to Ford, to provide better solutions to customers.
“We will keep on having an edge and further develop the distance perhaps between ourselves and others in the space in the connectivity and connectedness we provide.”
SiteMinder hails 2019 as a strong year
with milestones such as processing 105 million bookings via the platform for more than 35,000 hotels and exceeding recurring annual revenue of $69 million.
Ford adds that SiteMinder will remain focused on the professional accommodation space from bed & breakfasts up to chain hotels.
While the company already works with some professional property managers via its partnership with Airbnb and others, it does not plan to go down the route of independent owners at this stage.
Funding finds a home
On funding for B2B technology in hospitality more widely, Ford says that he doesn't expect investor appetite in the sector to abate.
"Generally across SaaS there's a lot of money look for a home right now. If you look at what the markets out there are doing in terms of valuations right now, even the public markets, there is a voracious appetite for technology.
"Hospitality as a space, as a macro market, is very desirable because it's growth and online share of bookings continues to grow. When you have a healthy macro space and technology as a rising star within that space, there's a lot of desire and a lot of money in the market looking for a home.
"People will seek to invest but are going to be quite picky and look for those companies that can scale because it's not an easy market to sell to and scale at velocity and with good unit economics."