Singapore’s Hotel Booking Chain, RedDoorz, Set For Regional Expansion

Written by: Cai Huiling Created: 06 March 2018

This Start-Up Is Shaking Up The Competition In the Online Budget Hotel Booking Industry

Emboldened with a fresh round of funds, Singapore-headquartered online hotel booking chain, RedDoorz, has raised US$11 million in pre-Series B funding for "aggressive regional expansion", the company announced on March 6th. 

Major backers include existing investors such as the World Bank Group's private investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) as well as a number of new investors such as UOB-backed InnoVen Capital; the Asia Investment Fund of Sushquehanna International Group; and Shanghai-based FengHe Group.

Launched in 2015, the start-up has since expanded rapidly garnering over 500 properties and servicing over 700,000 stayed room nights thus far in the region. They have established a presence in over 16 cities in Indonesia alone with over 3,000 hotel rooms on their platform.

With the latest massive infusion of funds, the start-up aims to have 100 fully leased properties and 1,000 franchise properties in the region within this year. 

“The scale of the Southeast Asia opportunity is mind-boggling. Our aim has been to tap into Southeast Asia’s $52-billion travel market, which is largely comprised of budget hotels rated three stars or below. We target to go up the value chain and offer the best predictable stay experience for our users across the region,” said Amit Saberwal, founder and CEO of RedDoorz.

Standing out from the competition, Mr Saberwal said that the edge that RedDoorz offers to these budget property owners is the exclusive access to their technology, revenue management, training and hospitality management skills, as well as being part of a larger hotel chain and online platform. 

RedDoorz has harnessed the power of data analytics to develop their own algorithms in order to forecast peak travel seasons, allowing hotels to manage prices accordingly. "The way we operate, technology is in our DNA. The biggest beneficiaries of this are the properties."

RedDoorz has recently launched their first fully-leased and operated hotel property in Singapore. Located in East Coast Road, the 65-room hotel, named RedDoorz, features Peranakan-style interiors that pay tribute to the neighbourhood's Peranakan history during Singapore's colonial period, said the startup. 

“We are very confident in the foresight and growth that RedDoorz has spotted, most notably the potential to disrupt the budget segment in the hospitality industry in Southeast Asia. This is most promising as they continue their impressive growth in the Southeast Asia region,” said John Wu, Founding Partner and Group Chairman, FengHe Group, one of the new investors in the latest funding round.

If there’s one start-up on the upward trajectory to keep an eye on this year, RedDoorz is it. 

Written by: Cai Huiling

Huiling covers a diverse range of topics at Billionaire, fuelled by her passion for environmental sustainability and humanitarian advocacy. In her downtime, she enjoys getting lost in a good book and tending to her urban garden.