Booking site RedDoorz nabs US$70m in funding for marketing and SEA expansion

Hotel management and booking platform RedDoorz, has raised US$70 million in series-C funding. It will use the new funds to launch in new markets and scale technology, customer experience projects as well as people and marketing investments to position itself as a leader in Southeast Asia, said a press release. A significant portion of the latest proceeds will be used to build a second engineering hub in Vietnam which will complement the current regional tech hub based out of India.The company also plans to ramp up its hotel staff and quality training programmes across all properties in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines as it helps employ approximately 10,000 people across the region through its hotel partners.Leading the round is Asia Partners, a Singapore-based growth equity firm founded by senior executives with a track record in scaling multi-billion tech companies  globally and across the region. RedDoorz is the first portfolio company of Asia Partners, which focuses on growth-stage investments in technology and technology-enabled companies in Southeast Asia. Two other leading funds, Rakuten Capital and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, joined the round. Existing investors Qiming Venture Partners and International Finance Corporation (IFC) also reiterated their support by participating in the round.The startup’s series-C investment follows shortly after RedDoorz announced its series-B funding of US$45 million in April 2019. The new funding brings the total amount of funds raised by the company to approximately US$140million since its launch in 2015.Amit Saberwal, founder and CEO of RedDoorz said, “We are thrilled to welcome a new group of seasoned investors joining us in our mission to build the leading tech-enabled affordable travel brand in Southeast Asia. This new round is a testament to our strong business growth and market leadership position we were able to build during the last few years. RedDoorz operates in some of the most dynamic markets in the world and we see tremendous opportunities to continue growing our platform and expanding into new markets.”“We believe we are on the right track to create the next tech unicorn in Southeast Asia and with the backing of our new investors, who bring deep expertise building large successful tech and digital businesses in our region, we are well positioned to fully execute on our strategy and mission,” he added.Oliver M. Rippel and Nicholas A. Nash, co-Founders and Partners of Asia Partners said, “Our mission is to help build and mentor Southeast Asia’s next generation of tech unicorns. Our team has a unique combination of investing and operating skills to help companies such as RedDoorz become true market leaders. We have every confidence in the team’s ability to capture the enormous opportunity which exists in the affordable travel segment. This investment affirms our belief in RedDoorz’s vision and plan for the region.”Rakuten Capital, the corporate venture arm of Japanese Internet services giant Rakuten Group, has invested in regional leading companies such as Gojek, Carousell and Shopback. The Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, a joint venture between Seoul-based Mirae Financial Group and Internet company Naver Corporation, counts HappyFresh and BigBasket as portfolio companies and also recently participated in Grab’s US$1B Series-H round.