ZUZU Hospitality has raised USD 5.9 million (SGD 7.9m) in a Series B extension round to accelerate the rollout of its artificial intelligence (AI) revenue management platform for independent hotels across Southeast Asia and India.

The round was led by Wavemaker Growth, the growth fund of Wavemaker Partners, alongside existing backers Velocity Ventures and Vulpes Ventures, and new investor Latin Leap.

Founded in Singapore, ZUZU Hospitality provides revenue management and distribution solutions for non-chain hotels. The company said the funding will support product development, expand its data capabilities, and scale go-to-market operations to reach more independent properties.

AI in hospitality

ZUZU’s core product, RevMate, uses AI to automate pricing and distribution strategies. The platform is trained on a proprietary dataset built from more than 3,000 partner hotels, which the company says allows it to fine-tune algorithms to the nuances of Asia-Pacific’s hospitality sector.

“AI is reshaping how demand is predicted and revenue is optimised,” said Vikram Malhi, co-founder and CEO of ZUZU Hospitality. “Our mission has always been to empower independent hoteliers, who often lack the resources of large chains.”

According to the firm, hotels using its system have seen up to an eight-fold return on investment, with improvements in revenue and occupancy rates.

Independent hotels face digital gap

Independent hotels make up the bulk of Southeast Asia’s hospitality market but often lack access to advanced revenue management tools. By contrast, global chains deploy dedicated teams and in-house systems.

Shiv Choudhury, founding partner at Wavemaker Growth, said: “Independent hotels don’t have the technology and expertise that big chain hotels have. ZUZU democratises access to AI and helps them secure their fair share of demand from online channels.”

Industry outlook

The global travel sector has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with the UN World Tourism Organization reporting that 2024 tourism flows exceeded 2019 benchmarks. McKinsey estimates that AI could generate more than USD 400 billion annually in value across travel and hospitality through pricing optimisation, personalisation, and efficiency gains.

ZUZU said its AI platform is designed to help smaller operators capture these benefits.

With the fresh funding, ZUZU plans to expand RevMate’s adoption among independent hotels in Southeast Asia and India. Malhi said the goal is not only to level the playing field with chains but to give boutique properties “context-aware AI” that helps them outperform larger competitors.