DOCSLIB.ORG

Room 77 Closes $10.5 Million Series B Round to Continue Innovation in Hotel Search

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Room 77 Closes $10.5 Million Series B Round to Continue Innovation in Hotel Search Source: LyonSHARE Communications June 09, 2011 09:00 ET Room 77 Closes $10.5 Million Series B Round to Continue Innovation in Hotel Search General Catalyst Partners Leads Round; PAR Capital Management, Sutter Hill Ventures, Felicis Ventures and Other Angels Participate SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - Jun 9, 2011) - Room 77, the world's first hotel search engine to reveal room- specific details, today announced it has secured $10.5 million in Series B financing. The round was led by General Catalyst Partners with participation from existing institutional and angel investors, including PAR Capital Management; Sutter Hill Ventures; Felicis Ventures; Rich Barton, founder of Expedia and co-founder of Zillow; and Erik Blachford, former CEO of IAC Travel. This brings the total amount the company has raised to date to $13.5 million. Room 77, which officially launched in public beta in February, has assembled some of the world's best search engineers and travel experts to develop an innovative search platform that offers travelers a new way to shop and plan hotel stays. No other online travel site breaks down hotels by room number, including important details like square footage, bed type, distance from elevator and whether it's adjoining or not. Room 77's patent-pending technologies also rank rooms based on each traveler's preferences and simulate the actual view from the window of each room. The new financing will help the company increase its proprietary index of hotel rooms globally and expand its core search platform to offer more ways to help travelers shop and book hotels online and via mobile devices. "Room 77 has introduced a level of innovation to online travel that we haven't seen in years, and there are a number of opportunities for its search platform to fill critical gaps and enhance the shopping experience across the travel sector," said Joel Cutler, managing director of General Catalyst Partners, which was also an early investor in ITA Software and Kayak. "With their exceptional team and solid technology, Room 77 will fundamentally change how people search and book hotels. It unlocks some exciting possibilities for travelers and we look forward to helping realize the company's full vision." "The first generation of hotel search focused on bringing hotels from offline to online. Our aim is take hotel search to the next level by empowering travelers with more information and transparency to find the right hotel and the best room," said Brad Gerstner, founder and chairman of Room 77. "We're pleased to have General Catalyst join our esteemed roster of existing investors -- all of whom have proven track records identifying innovative business models in early stages that ultimately become category leaders." As a core asset to its search platform, the company is working to index every hotel room at every three- to five- star hotel and resort worldwide, which the company estimates to total approximately 25,000 properties. To date, the company has indexed more than 500,000 hotel rooms in 2,500 properties. Room 77 has been able to quickly scale its database through the efforts of its own team, by working directly with hotels and chains, such as Kimpton and Starwood, and through travelers who are helping to crowdsource room and property data through photos and reviews. Room 77 currently has concentrated property and room data in 24 markets -- up from 16 at launch. These markets include: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London (UK), Maui, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Phoenix/Scottsdale, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose/Silicon Valley, Seattle, Vancouver (BC), and Washington, DC. Room 77 is currently accessible via its website (www.room77.com) and iPhone app, providing hotel room data on-the-go and an easy tool for travelers to share details and photos about their own hotel room. The app is particularly useful while checking in at a hotel's front desk -- a traveler simply enters the room number offered by the clerk and Room 77 instantly advises whether to "take" or "leave" the room and presents alternate room suggestions. The iPhone app is also usable on the iPad and iPod touch. An Android app is expected to be released this summer. Other early investors in Room 77 include Gerstner, Bob Pittman, founder of MTV, and Hugh Crean, former president and CEO of Farecast, among others. The Room 77 management team and board of directors have considerable experience in the travel and search industries, including senior-level engineering and management experience at Google, IAC Travel, Hotwire.com, Orbitz and Farecast/BingTravel. About Room 77 Room 77 is the world's first hotel search engine to reveal data down to the room level, providing consumers with unprecedented detail about each guest room at thousands of three- to five-star properties. Its proprietary Room Rank algorithm scores every room, based on the traveler's preferences, and the virtual Room View simulates the actual view from each room through patent-pending mapping technology, helping travelers identify the best rooms for them. Currently accessible through the Web and its iPhone app, Room 77 is designed to go where travelers do and also offers tools and features that enable travelers to "sleuth" room data and help contribute to its growing database. Officially founded in 2009, Room 77 has raised $13.5 million to date from leading entrepreneurs and institutional investors, including: the company's founder Brad Gerstner, Rich Barton, Bob Pittman, Hugh Crean, PAR Capital Management, Sutter Hill Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Felicis Ventures, among others. For more information, visit the Room 77 blog or follow the company on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bestrooms) and Twitter (@Room_77). About General Catalyst Partners General Catalyst Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building the technology-based companies that will lead innovation and transform industries. Founded in 2000, General Catalyst Partners leverages its principals' extensive operational, business development and technological expertise to provide portfolio companies with a catalyst for success through business-building and partnership development assistance. For more information, please visit: http://www.generalcatalyst.com. About PAR Capital Management PAR Capital Management is a private investment partnership with over $2 billion in managed capital. The firm balances its large holdings in publicly traded securities with related private equity stakes in travel related industries and online media. About Sutter Hill Ventures Sutter Hill Ventures is a venture capital firm that finances technology-based start-up and early-stage companies that pioneer products or services in growth markets, especially those in information technology and health care. Founded in 1964, it is one of Silicon Valley's original venture capital firms. Some of the companies backed by Sutter Hill include: Network Appliance, Legato, Quantum, StorageTek, Data Domain, Alteon, Linear Technology, nVidia, and BroadVision. For more information about Sutter Hill Ventures, please visit www.shv.com. About Felicis Ventures Founded in 2006 by Aydin Senkut, Felicis Ventures is a super angel fund focused on supporting top technology entrepreneurs with capital, mentorship and connections. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Felicis Ventures' portfolio is comprised of leading mobile and consumer Internet companies. Recent exits include Aardvark (acquired by Google), GeoAPI (acquired by Twitter), Mint (acquired by Intuit), Milo (acquired by eBay), Mob.ly (acquired by Groupon), Mochi Media (acquired by Shanda Games), Plusmo (acquired by AT&T), Powerset (acquired by Microsoft) and Tapulous (acquired by Disney). For more information, visit http://www.felicisvc.com/..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sianature Redacted Signature Redacted
    MASSACHUSETTSq INSTITtTF A Taxonomy of Online Syndicates OF TECHNOLOLGY By JUN 2 4 2015 Sascha Jan Eder LIBRARIES B.S. Business Administration University of Mannheim, 2012 SUBMITTED TO THE MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT STUDIES AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2015 2015 SASCHA JAN EDER. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known of hereafter created. Signature redacted Signature of Author MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT May 8, 2015 Sianature redacted Certified by: Christian Catalini Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship Assistant Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, a Strategic Management Thesis Supervisor Accepted by: Signature redacted-- LI Michael A. Cusumano SMR Distinguished Professor of Management Program Director, M.S. in Management Studies Program MIT Sloan School of Management 11 A Taxonomy of Online Syndicates By Sascha Jan Eder Submitted to MIT Sloan School of Management on May 8, 2015 in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Science in Management Studies. Abstract New businesses financing has evolved over the years from closed-end funds to limited partnership financing, angel investing and the most current form of online syndication. While VC financing has been covered thoroughly from financing and behavioral per- spectives in research, very little is known about online syndicates which have ap- peared in recent years with the creation of AngelList.
    [Show full text]
  • Vcs Aim to Out-Angel the Angels
    NEWS ANALYSIS April 2, 2007, 12:00AM EST VCs Aim to Out-Angel the Angels Responding to the emergence of a new breed of wealthy investor, venture capitalists are boosting their early-stage investments in startups by Aaron Ricadela In October, as startup Jaxtr hit up venture capital firms for its first round of funding, it landed an unusual arrangement. Instead of taking a few million in cash from a firm that would hope to one day book a fat return, Jaxtr took a loan—just $1.5 million, from no less than four VC firms and three angel investors. None got the usual perk of a seat on Jaxtr's board. The result is plenty of independence for Jaxtr, a maker of software that routes calls from blogs and MySpace profiles to cell phones. "You're still basically on your own," says Jaxtr Chief Executive Konstantin Guericke, one of the co-founders of networking site LinkedIn. Jaxtr's tale illustrates the new calculus governing high-tech venture capital. For years, angel investors and traditional venture firms existed in a sort of symbiosis. Wealthy tech-industry veterans willing to open their checkbooks for $100,000 or so—the angels, as they're known—could bootstrap promising young companies before serious money, to the tune of six or more figures, from venture firms arrived. Angling for a slice of Jaxtr, however, were both groups: Mayfield Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper Richards, and the Founders Fund on one hand; angel investors Ron Conway, Reid Hoffman, and Rajeev Motwani on the other. "The company was a bit in the driver's seat," one investor says.
    [Show full text]
  • Interview with Roger Ehrenberg from Information Arbitrage
    Interview with Roger Ehrenberg from Information Arbitrage Adrian Bye: Today, I’m here with Roger Ehrenberg who is from Information Arbitrage. He is a Wall Street guy that’s turning into or is now an investor in the tech scene in New York. I’ve been reading Roger’s blog for quite awhile and he had some pretty interesting thoughts. Roger, thanks for joining us. Roger Ehrenberg: Yes, thank you, Adrian. I’m happy to be here. Adrian Bye: Maybe you can just tell us a little bit about you, who you are and what you want to be when you grow up? Roger Ehrenberg: I’m still trying to figure that part out. In terms of where I’ve been. I was in Wall Street for, gee, over 17 years starting in ’87 right around the crash and I was an M&A. For four years, I did M&A focusing on the financial services sector and then got into capital structuring which was kind of designing these structured capital, raising instruments for large corporations. Adrian Bye: Did you meet Mike Milken? Roger Ehrenberg: I did not. I did not. His heyday was slightly before I came onto the scene and of course he was based out in LA. I ended up going to work for Citi, in the old city, the real city… in New York City. So unfortunately, no, I’ve never met Mike but he certainly dominated the discussion at the time that I got into the business. Then I went to business school for a couple of years while working for Citi and then I went into derivatives which is not at all what I expected I would do.
    [Show full text]
  • Start-Up Space Report 2020
    Start-Up Space Update on Investment in Commercial Space Ventures 2020 i Bryce Space and Technology brycetech.com CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................... III INTRODUCTION. 1 Purpose and Background . 1 Methodology ...................................................1 OVERVIEW OF START-UP SPACE VENTURES. 3 TYPES OF SPACE INVESTOR ......................................4 SPACE INVESTMENT BY THE NUMBERS ...........................11 Seed Funding . 15 Venture Capital . 16 Private Equity . 17 Acquisition ...................................................18 Public Offering ................................................19 Debt Financing . 19 Investment Across All Types .....................................19 Valuation ....................................................21 Casualties ...................................................22 SPACE INVESTORS BY THE NUMBERS ............................23 Overall ......................................................23 Angels ......................................................27 Venture Capital Firms . 28 Private Equity Groups ..........................................31 Corporations . 32 Banks and Other Financial Institutions .............................33 SPECIAL TOPIC: CHINESE ACTIVITY IN START-UP SPACE VENTURES. 35 START-UP SPACE: WHAT’S NEXT?. 38 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 41 ii brycetech.com Bryce Space and Technology EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Three significant trends are shaping the start-up space environment as we enter the 2020s. First, investors continue to pour large amounts
    [Show full text]
  • Angel Investing: Catalyst for Innovation
    Angel Investing: Catalyst for Innovation Richard Sudek, Allan May, and Robert Wiltbank October, 2011 The list of great companies that angel investors financed and helped build is enormous; brilliant innovations, great companies, jobs galore. Bell, Ford Motors, Apple, and Google: they all had funding from angels. Without the initial angel investment of Mike Markkula in Apple Computer, for example, Apple might have never launched in a meaningful way. His investment, alongside true entrepreneurial dedication, passion, and insight, helped launch a new industry. From group angel investors to ‘super angels’ to investors that straddle the formal VC and angel investing worlds, the relationship between angels and entrepreneurs is vital. Over the past 15 years these angel investors have become significantly more professional, organized, and easier to “see” by the media following new ventures. Our focus here is to clarify the different types and activities of angel investors, with a detailed focus on a group of extremely active angel investors commonly referred to as “Super Angels.” Over the last 18 months we’ve interviewed very active angel investors on the west and east coast to explore their views on venture investing. The individuals have invested between $5 million and $100 million of their own money directly into between eight and 90 new ventures each (an average of about 30 angel investments per investor). They backed companies like Google, Twitter, A123, Amgen, AutoCAD, Intel, Apple, National Semiconductor, Guidant, and Teledyne when they were barely companies. We asked a series of questions to better understand: • How vital is their social network to their success? • Are there any unique patterns in how they select and develop the ventures they back? • What have they learned about entrepreneurship as a result of their venture investments? Angel Topography We consider angel investors to be people who invest their own capital directly into new ventures.
    [Show full text]
  • Innovative Fundraising Options & Opportunities Innovative Fundraising Options & Opportunities
    Special Discounts for Financial Research Associates Proudly Presents ACA members and FinancialResearch Entrepreneurs! Associates, LLC InnovativeInnovative FundraisingFundraising OptionsOptions && OpportunitiesOpportunities How entrepreneurs can work with angel investors, business incubators, venture capital and other sources of funding to move their business dreams to reality January 26-27th, 2011 Silicon Valley Capital Club, San Jose, California Key Topics at a glance Include: • Leading investors talk about the future of funding in a fascinating keynote panel • A moderated discussion of angel investors – their goals, strategies and ability to bridge the gap after “friends and family” • Structured Angels: what the savvy entrepreneur should know about these organized investing groups • Venture Capital Showcase: strategy and forecasting from top firms • How entrepreneurs are using incubators and business accelerator models to advance business development • Emerging and innovative funding strategies of smaller VC firms • Benefits of secondary markets and other liquidity options • Service provider showcase: necessary cogs of the entrepreneur funding wheel Our Renowned Speaking Faculty Savinay Berry, Vice President, gRANITE VENTuRES Alexander Lloyd, Founder and Managing Partner, ACCELERATOR VENTuRES Chuck Boggs, President, PALADIN VENTuRE DEVELOPMENT Allan May, Chairman and Founder, LIFE SCIENCE ANgELS Greg Brogger, CEO, SHARESPOST John May, Managing Partner, NEW VANTAgE gROuP Tom Cervantez, Co-Chair, HARVARD ANgELS Steven B. Mercil, CEO,
    [Show full text]
  • Can Equity Crowdfunding Crowd-Out Other Alternative Sources of Finance?
    HEC PARIS - Master Thesis Can Equity Crowdfunding Crowd-Out Other Alternative Sources of Finance? Supervised by Mr. Patrick Legland David Timothy Schneider Matriculation Nr: 54060 MSc International Finance Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 7393 179 350 Tuesday, 13 September 2016 The author would like to thank his Master Thesis supervisor, Mr. Patrick Legland, for both his availability and feedback during the writing of this paper. The author would also like to thank Ms. Angela Mashey and Ms. Ivy Wong for their help in connecting the author to entrepreneurs, investors and people with industry knowledge in the San Francisco Bay Area. Abstract Following the financial crisis of 2007, many smaller firms had no access to capital. The Obama administration tried to change that with the passage of the JOBS Act in 2012, which would allow firms to seek financing from anonymous individuals online and offer debt or equity as securities. In the vacuum left behind by the retreat of bank lending stepped a host of alternative lenders, crowdfunding in its many forms being one of them. As the industry grows and matures it is starting to compete with other alternative lenders1. It is the aim of this paper to compare equity crowdfunding to the other equity investors, those traditionally being angel investors, micro-VCs and larger VC-firms. Initially the various types of crowdfunding will be defined and how they came about, subsequently this paper will examine the various forms of private equity. Finally, the types will be compared on the global volume available to investors, the cost of financing, the median investment size made by each investor type, the role of the intermediary, the degree to which shareholders involve themselves in the company’s business affairs and the legal structure of the types.
    [Show full text]
  • H Loreporttm
    Angel Resource Institute 2020 TM Report HAnnual ReportL onO Angel Investments AGGREGATED NATIONAL & REGIONAL DATA The HALO Report TM is a collaborative effort of the Angel Resource Institute TM and Pitchbook TM intended to raise awareness of early stage investment activities highlighting trends that may inform our decisions and impact opportunities for angels and entrepreneurs. HALO ReportTM Partners HALO REPORT TM CONTENTS The 2020 HALO Report: A Retrospective Look at a Pivotal Year .....................3 2020 HALO Report Highlights & Trends ....................4 Geographic Analysis of Investor Regions ...................5 Non-US funding to US companies ................................9 The Top 10 Angel Groups ...............................................9 Deal Structure and Investment Stage Statistics ... 10 Overall Financial Statistics (2020 Seed & Series A) ............................................... 11 Report Contacts Three Years’ Data: Gwen C. Edwards Seed / Series A Investment Metrics ........................ 12 Angel Resource Institute, Board of Trustees Industry Analysis .............................................................. 13 Industry Segments & Valuation .................................. 14 ARI Data Team [email protected] Industry Statistics ............................................................ 15 Gender & Ethnicity .......................................................... 16 Gender & Ethnicity - Regional Comparisons .......... 17 Capital Raising Attributes - Seed Deals Only ......... 18 CEO
    [Show full text]
  • The European Business Angels Market an Approximation
    THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS ANGELS MARKET AN APPROXIMATION Editor ______________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENT OVERVIEW.............................................................................................................. 2 AUSTRIA ................................................................................................................ 6 BELGIUM ................................................................................................................ 8 FRANCE ................................................................................................................ 17 GERMANY ............................................................................................................. 25 ITALY ................................................................................................................... 32 NETHERLANDS ...................................................................................................... 37 PORTUGAL ............................................................................................................ 42 SCOTLAND ........................................................................................................... 46 UNITED KINGDOM ................................................................................................. 48 ABOUT BAE ........................................................................................................... 57 MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY......................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding the Nature and Impact of the Business Angels in Funding Research and Innovation Final Report
    Understanding the Nature and Impact of the business angels in Funding Research and Innovation Final Report European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology Directorate F- Digital and single markets. Unit F. 3 - Start-ups and innovation Pierre Marro — [email protected] Luuk Borg — [email protected] Study performed as part of framework contract No 2010/S 172-262618 ‘Provision of services in the field of research evaluation and research policy analysis’, LOT 2. Specific contract number: 30-CE-0752283/00-08; SMART 2015/058 Legal notice This document has been prepared for the European Commission, however it only reflects the views of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which might be made of the information contained therein. More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu). 2 Table of contents 1. Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... 5 2. Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 6 3. Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 7 4. Rationale for the study and applied methodology ................................................................ 12 5. Catalogue of best practices of support measures and innovative schemes for Business
    [Show full text]
  • Emerging Business Financing: Early Stage Investment
    EMERGING BUSINESS FINANCING: EARLY STAGE INVESTMENT Benjamin David Novak and Brian Slough March 21, 2019 © 2018 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP The Life of a Startup • Many startups attempt to follow a fairly well-defined path that includes the following stages: • Idea (bootstrapping): all startups begin with an idea, which the prospective founders build on by creating sketches/mockups/prototypes, etc. so that they can solicit feedback from trusted friends, family, advisors and potential customers. • Minimum viable product (MVP) (seed stage of development): the next step is to build a basic version of the product that has just enough functionality to allow the founders to test market reaction as cheaply as possible. • Building (Series A financing): if the MVP is validated by the market, founders must then raise sufficient capital build a more substantial version of the product to be released to a broader audience, and perhaps to hire additional employees. • Scaling (Series B financing and beyond): once a startup has created a scalable version of its product, its focus shifts to rapidly expanding its customer base to capture as large a portion of the product’s addressable market as possible. • Maturity and exit (liquidity events): as the startup grows and matures, its focus turns from maximizing revenue to attaining profitability—however, startups are often sold long before profitability is realized. 2 Seed Stage of Development • At the beginning of the typical startup's lifecycle, prospective startup founders are usually bootstrapping the company. This means they are moonlighting and spending their own money (or small amounts of informally-borrowed money from friends and family) to develop their idea before raising an outside round of capital.
    [Show full text]
  • Uvca-Presentation.Pdf
    Kyiv About Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) was established TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT UKRAINE’S ACHIEVEMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES and to support investors in every aspect, from providing reliable information to establishing international connections at the industry and government levels. On the other hand, blossoming local technology sector have triggered emergence of new local investors, who certainly benefit from the western peers sharing their expertise and best practices. BY BUILDING A BRIDGE BETWEEN UKRAINIAN AND GLOBAL ECOSYSTEMS, UVCA FACILITATES THE MOTION OF KNOWLEDGE AND CAPITAL IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. What we do? P R O M O T I N G a n d RESEARCH NETWORKING • gathering and analyzing private equity and venture capital activity data in Ukraine and • being a gateway to Ukraine for foreign private compiling industry overviews equity investors • providing international associations, research • promoting Ukrainian investment opportunities to institutions and investors with overview on foreign investors at industry events and one-on-one Ukrainian investment market and its meetings participants • organizing roadshows for international investors in • spreading European private equity research Ukraine as well as for Ukrainian investors abroad and news • promoting IT success stories of Ukraine • providing „credibility confirmation“ of investors LOBBYING• encouraging syndicated investments E V E N T S , T R A I N I N G , • amending legislation on improving business and EDUCATION investment climate • being the resource
    [Show full text]