Singapore-based hospitality start-up RedDoorz will expand its portfolio of 18 budget hotel properties in Singapore to 29 by the end of next year, it said yesterday.
The five-year-old hotel management and booking platform operates both franchise and lease models for its hotels in Singapore.
RedDoorz said its expansion plan will make it the second-largest hotel chain in Singapore.
Last year, it launched its first fully-leased and operated property in Singapore - a 65-room hotel called RedDoorz near Marine Parade Central.
Under this model, RedDoorz manages the day-to-day operations of the establishments, which is helpful for property owners who prefer to be more hands-off or do not run hotels as part of their core business.
The start-up operates a network of over 1,500 properties across 80 cities in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Earlier this year, RedDoorz had its first close of US$70 million (S$96 million) as part of its larger Series C round, and launched a new regional tech hub in Vietnam.
The company has raised about US$140 million since its inception in 2015.
Founder and CEO Amit Saberwal said RedDoorz has built up brand awareness and loyalty across the markets it operates in. "Indonesia, in particular, is our strongest market given its robust domestic travel ecosystem, whereas Singapore is generally considered a premium travel destination," he said.
"Through our efforts in making standardised affordable accommodation more easily and readily available, we aim to encourage more travellers to visit Singapore, whether for work or for leisure."
Vietnam is the company's newest market, having entered the country in July last year, and accounts for about 10 per cent of its business, Mr Saberwal told The Straits Times in an earlier interview.
Developing its own technology, which includes artificial intelligence-based pricing engines, is paramount as the budget hospitality space cannot be a people-dependent business, he had said.
RedDoorz is the first company in the portfolio of Asia Partners, whose co-founders include gaming and e-commerce firm Sea's former group president Nicholas Nash.
Its investors include 500 Startups, Jungle Ventures and Susquehanna International Group's Asia Investment Fund.
