March 25, 2009 LeisureLink Announces $6.2 Million Venture Round
Rapid Growth During Recession Drives Investment
Pasadena, CA. March 25, 2009. LeisureLink, Inc, the leading distribution and revenue management platform for specialty lodging suppliers, today announced that it has closed the first tranche of a $6.2 million equity investment round. The investment was led by Mission Ventures and Clearstone Venture Partners, with additional participation from other insiders.
“LeisureLink has dramatically grown revenues in spite of the difficult economic environment, and we believe this is the right time to invest in establishing a dominant position in specialty lodging,” said Ted Alexander, Partner at Mission Ventures.
“This new capital gives us the resources to cope with surging demand from both our suppliers and new distribution partners,” said Erik Hovanec, President and CEO of LeisureLink. “Specialty lodging suppliers need new sources of revenue quickly in this difficult economic environment, and it is critical that we maintain our ability to have new properties up and running in time for their peak seasons,” he added.
“Vacation rentals and specialty lodging are clearly the hottest part of the travel industry,” said Jim Armstrong, Managing Director of Clearstone Venture Partners, “and we want LeisureLink to become the major player in the electronic distribution for this high growth sector. We have invested in dozens of content distribution companies, and LeisureLink’s ability to monetize content is very impressive,” said Armstrong. “LeisureLink is creating great value for its distribution partners,” he added, “and that is allowing the company to expand their network rapidly.”
“We will use this capital to grow beyond OTA and GDS distribution”, said Hovanec. “We are aggressively investing in new products and channels, some obvious and some not so obvious, in order to fulfill our mission of bringing specialty lodging to the mass market” he concluded.
In addition to distribution services, LeisureLink will continue to invest in its products such as its booking engine and customizable timeshare resort rental program. “Rental programs are an important source of revenue and new consumer traffic for our affiliated resorts, particularly in the current difficult environment,” said Gordon Gurnik, president, North America, Group RCI. “We are pleased with our investment and to continue our partnership with LeisureLink to bring new consumers into our affiliated resorts,” said Gurnik.
“We are glad to secure the capital to fund LeisureLink’s continued rapid growth,” said Erik Hovanec. “At a time when other companies are experiencing financial difficulties, it is critical to have the support of investors and partners such as Mission, Clearstone and Group RCI,” said Hovanec.
About LeisureLink ™
LeisureLink™ makes unique vacation lodging widely available through online travel sites and traditional travel agents. LeisureLink™ delivers broad distribution, property marketing services and pricing assistance to increase rental bookings and maximize property managers’ profitability in all market conditions and seasons. Our clients include vacation rental, timeshare, and condohotel properties. For more information visit
www.LeisureLink.com and to view properties go to
www.ABetterStay.com.
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