The Indian Angel Network (IAN) has invested $0.5 million in Stayzilla, a Chennai-based hotel booking site that offers value-stays. With this, IAN has made its footprint in Chennai.
IAN is a national network of business angels investing in start-ups and early stage ventures.
The investment will help StayZilla expand its network of properties, upgrade technology platform and build a strong foundation for a scalable business, said Yogi Vasupal, founder of StayZilla.
IAN investor Ravi Krishnappa, who led the investment, said three things that attracted IAN included team, online booking technology and strong relationships with 4,000 properties in 600 towns in India.
“In the next three months our target is to scale up to another 300 towns,” said Vasupal.
The online booking site mainly focuses on Tier II and III towns. The company’s revenue model is commission-based from the hoteliers, added Vasupal.
According to him, these destinations currently do not have much competition and hotels are operating at over 80 per cent utilisation.
“The online booking market for accommodation is almost completely untapped with just one per cent of the hotel accommodation getting booked online. This presents a huge opportunity for StayZilla,” said IAN investor member, Amitabh Shrivastava, who also led the deal.
Both Shrivastava and Krishnappa will be part of StayZilla's board.
