ZUZU Hospitality, the Singapore-based revenue management and distribution platform for independent hotels, announced Thursday that it has raised $5.9 million in a Series B-Extension round.
The firm said in a statement that the funding is from Wavemaker Growth, the growth fund of its long-time backer Wavemaker Partners, existing investors Velocity Ventures and Vulpes Ventures, and new investor Latin Leap.
The funding accelerates ZUZU’s aim to level the playing field between independent hotels and global chains through technology and expertise.
With this new funding, the firm will accelerate product development, expand its data capabilities, and scale go-to-market efforts to bring thousands more properties into the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered travel economy.
“We’re witnessing the most significant transformation in hospitality since the internet. AI is reshaping how demand is predicted and revenue is optimized,
“Our mission has always been to empower independent hoteliers—the heart of this industry — who lack the resources of large chains,” said Vikram Malhi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ZUZU Hospitality.
According to him, the foundation of this mission is the firm’s unique data advantage.
He said the firm has built a proprietary dataset from over 3,000 hotels in a market segment that historically lacks good benchmarking.
“This data is the fuel for RevMate, our AI revenue management platform, allowing us to fine-tune algorithms specifically for the nuances of the Asia Pacific (APAC) hospitality industry,
“With our investors’ support, we’re excited to bring RevMate to market and empower thousands of hotels to thrive in this new era of travel,” he added.
Since its beginning, ZUZU has methodically built the infrastructure to support hospitality’s digital transformation. This funding marks another step for ZUZU in that journey.
“This isn’t just about keeping pace with industry change。 It’s about enabling independent hotels to lead it. We’re not just giving them the same AI sophistication as a global chain; we’re giving them something better: intelligence that is fine-tuned for their specific reality，
“When a boutique property in Bangkok can use context-aware AI to be more nimble and outmanoeuvre a larger competitor, that’s when hospitality gets truly exciting,” Malhi emphasized.
ZUZU, which already powers over 3,000 hotels across Southeast Asia and India, is closing the gap for independent hotels with a unique data moat.
Its proprietary dataset RevMate AI platform, an unparalleled collection of booking patterns, pricing decisions, and market performance from over 3,000 independent properties, makes advanced pricing and distribution strategies automated and intelligent, allowing non-chain hotels to be nimble and strategic.
“Southeast Asia’s hotel market is growing fast and is highly fragmented, with a large chunk of it being independent hotels，
“These hotels don’t have the technology and expertise that big chain hotels have in revenue and property management，” said Shiv Choudhury, Founding Partner of Wavemaker Growth.
According to him, ZUZU democratizes access to top-notch technology and AI with its simple all-in-one tech stack, helping these hotels maximize revenue and secure their fair share of demand from online channels.
He added that this ensures a very high satisfaction and stickiness with hotels, and growth of 30 percent to 40 percent in occupancy rates.
“We are excited about partnering with ZUZU not just as an investor, but also operationally in areas like their go-to-market and organizational growth,
“We believe that this can transform the hotel industry in Southeast Asia and beyond,” he added.
Kozystay partners BaliSuperHost to create Indonesia’s largest short-term rental management platform