Groups360 Raises $35 Million in Funding to Support Rapid Growth

$35 Million Investment from Zigg Capital, Blackstone Innovations Investments, and Fir Tree Partners to Accelerate Growth

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Groups360, a leading platform for booking group travel, today announced  the completion of a $35 million funding round led by Zigg Capital and including Blackstone Innovations Investments, and Fir Tree Partners. They join existing investors Accor, Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and Marriott International.

Groups360 provides real-time availability and instant booking capabilities for both hotel room blocks and meeting space, streamlining group travel for organizers, attendees, and hotels alike. The GroupSync™ platform, which is the Company's proprietary bookings marketplace, delivers greater efficiency for travel organizers and hoteliers. Through the platform, travel organizers have access to enhanced global search capabilities, hotel group inventory and rates, and choice of purchasing method via instant booking or simplified proposal process. Groups360 also provides these capabilities to leading hotels via private label group booking engines.

Over the last 12 months, Groups360 has launched instant booking for group stays at over 7,000 leading hotel properties and booking capabilities at 200,000 hotel properties worldwide via GroupSync™. Groups360 recently announced commercial partnerships with Omni Hotels & Resorts, TFE Hotels, and Premier Inn – joining the ranks of Accor, Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and Marriott International. Groups360 will leverage the financing round to continue to grow its operations and expand further in EMEA and APAC.

"Groups360 is reshaping the hospitality industry in a manner that makes booking groups simple, transparent, and efficient for both hotels and event organizers," said Kemp Gallineau, CEO, Groups360. "Now, with support from our new partners, Groups360 is positioned to more quickly seize the opportunities which lie ahead for improving group travel."

"Event organizers increasingly expect their entire hotel purchase experience to be seamless, instantaneous, and online. Groups360 has built an integrated, intuitive platform that benefits hoteliers and event organizers anywhere in the world", said Dave Eisenberg, Founding Partner at Zigg Capital.

"Groups360 offers a solution that is truly differentiated in the marketplace", said John Stecher, Chief Technology Officer at Blackstone. "The Blackstone Innovations Investments team is focused on identifying, investing in, and partnering with pioneering companies like Groups360 to help take their businesses to the next stage of growth. We believe that Groups360's inventory distribution model and instant booking capability will help drive industry-wide transformation and can create value for Blackstone's real estate portfolio."

Fir Tree Partners Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner David Sultan said, "With Groups360's innovative platform and unique relationships with some of the largest hotel brands in the world, the company is well-positioned to simplify group bookings for both suppliers and travelers. We see a tremendous opportunity for Groups360 to drive online penetration in a global meetings market that has remained largely offline."

About Groups360:
Groups360 was created with a singular goal — to empower event organizers by bringing innovation, transparency, and simplicity to the decades-old problem of booking groups. The company's integrated technology solution, GroupSync™, enables suppliers to distribute inventory, engage with planners, and optimize group revenue. GroupSync also equips planners to search and shop hotels worldwide and to book rooms and space directly, online or through a simplified RFP process. GroupSync is the first distribution channel to offer online booking for both group hotel rooms and meeting space at scale. Groups360 has offices in Nashville, London, and Singapore. Learn more at groups360.com.

About Zigg Capital:
Zigg Capital is a venture capital firm based in New York City that invests globally in technology companies touching the real estate, construction, and retail industries. Over the past decade, Zigg's partners have made early-stage investments in leading companies such as Procore, Matterport, OpenSpace, VTS, Kasa, and Tend. For more information, please visit www.ziggcap.com.

About Blackstone:
Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $881 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Fir Tree Partners:
Based in New York with additional offices in South Miami, Florida, Fir Tree Partners is a privately owned hedge fund sponsor which was founded in 1994. The firm primarily provides its services to pooled investment vehicles and has a broader investment mandate that permits buying in virtually all sectors, including public and private equity, sovereign debt, capital structure arbitrage, special situations, and real estate investments in commercial and residential real estate. Fir Tree manages assets on behalf of leading endowments, foundations, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds.

SOURCE Groups360