V Resorts Raises $4 Mn Funding From Seedfund, RB International

Noida-based V Resorts, an asset-light resort management startup has raised $4 Mn in its third round of funding led by Seedfund and RB International.

Founded by Aditi Balbir, an ISB alumnus, V Resorts is an alternate accommodation provider in the leisure travel space. It was launched as a budget accommodation play in 2011. It pivoted to a premium model in 2014.

For customers, it promises to provide a seamless standardised experience – from searching for information, making a booking, reaching the place, to experiencing the local appeal of that destination.

V Resorts currently claims to manage over 70 resorts in 15 Indian states. The company operates on a business model of aggregating existing properties and managing the operations of those properties on a revenue share basis.

Commenting on the funding, Aditi Balbir, founder and CEO of V Resorts said, “Our competitors are aggregators who solve the problem of discovery – ‘Where to go.’ The travel space is flooded with such aggregators but no player is currently targeting the problem of on-ground experience. We at V Resorts solve the problem of customer experience – from manpower to vendors, procurement, booking, feedback etc. – covering the entire gamut of hospitality services.”

The company plans to utilise the funding raised to invest in consumer and operator interfaces. There are also plans to double its inventory by the end of this year.

The company further plans to expand to over 1,000 locations in India in the next two years. “Keeping in mind our goal of going where Indians go, international expansion is on the cards as well. Southeast Asia is amongst the favorite overseas destinations with Indians, so it’s a prudent decision to focus our initial expansion efforts there,” added Balbir.

Commenting on the investment, Executive Director Shailesh Vikram Singh, Seedfund which has invested in V Resorts in the initial phase said, “This is indeed exciting times for the travel leisure segment. Our strategy will be to build travel choices even to the most inaccessible places and create profitable businesses with the involvement of the local community.”

Last year in May, V Resorts announced its first acquihire deal with Techafaqs, which is a part of Banyan Netfaqs.

As claimed, the company has raised about $5 Mn in funding excluding this round. Earlier in 2014, Seedfund has invested about $2 Mn into V Resorts. Other players in the hotel accommodation space include OYO Rooms, Treebo, Lemon Tree Hotels among others.