Nida Rooms secures US$4.2mil equity investment

• Aims to solve hotel industry’s low occupancy rates while giving consumer choice
• First launched in Indonesia, now has over 3,500 hotels partners in four countries

 
GLOBAL Rooms Ltd, which owns and operates the Nida Rooms hotel reservation system, announced it has secured  equity investment of US$4.2 million, led by venture capital firms Convergence Ventures and CyberAgent Ventures.
 
Independent specialist advisory and investment firm Emergebridge acted as the company’s advisor.  Nida Rooms a regional ‘virtual hotel operator.’
 
This was the company’s second institutional capital raise since its inception in the second half of 2015, Nida Rooms said in a statement.
 
Nida Rooms will use the funds to further expand its business in Indonesia as well as to increase its market share in the South-East Asia region, said cofounder and chief executive officer Kaneswaran Avili.
 
He said Nida Rooms aims to solve the hotel industry’s low occupancy and low average room rates (ARR) problems by offering hoteliers a unique distribution channel for their unsold inventory.
 
It also gives the consumer a smartphone app that allows them to choose accommodation at the right location, for the right price with the right quality, he added.
 
“The signing of this agreement is an important milestone for the company’s future development plan, as Nida Rooms is now embarking on the second phase in fulfilling its promises to our hotel partners and consumers by generating bookings and revenues,” said Kaneswaran.
 
“We aim to increase the hotel partnership to 7,500 by year-end while focusing on enhancing the value-added experience for our consumers,” he added.
 
The Malaysian-founded company first launched in Indonesia, and now claims over 3,500 hotels partners – more than 800 hotels in Malaysia, 1,500 hotels in Thailand and 119 hotels in the Philippines. It has also sets its sights on Vietnam and South America.
 
“The Nida Rooms opportunity fit our investment thesis well,” said Convergence Ventures managing partner Adrian M. Li.
 
“It has a strong and experienced team leading the implementation of a new business model developed to address the pain points of cost-conscious travellers around the world,” he added.
 
CyberAgent Ventures vice president Steven Vanada said, “Budget travel is booming and is a multibillion-dollar market, so it’s safe to say that this business model has big market potential.
 
“If we look at LCCs (low-cost carriers), they have seen a huge growth in the last decade or so, and we believe it is only a matter of time before the budget hotels follow suit,” he added.
 
Nida Rooms also announced the appointment of Justin Cohen as its new board member effective immediately.
 
Cohen has had experience in the e-commerce and digital sectors, and has served as board director, managing director and in senior roles for several companies, including 90min.com, J Squared, NEC, PartyGaming, and HomeGuru.
 
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