VIRDEE, THE CONTACTLESS check-in technology firm, secured $12.4 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round led by Moneta Ventures, bringing its total funding to $21 million. These funds will be used to finance research, expand product features, grow the workforce, and strengthen the company’s presence in the hospitality sector, the company said.
Other participants in the latest fundraising process include Silverton Partners, Koch Real Estate Investments, Alumni Ventures, DJR Advisors, Capital Factory, and strategic partners, Virdee said. This investment follows Series Seed financing led by Silverton Partners in February 2022 and a 2020 angel investment led by Rajiv Trivedi, former brand president for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc.’s La Quinta Inn and chairman of TST Capital.
"We were drawn to Virdee’s value proposition – tech that improves the guest experience while enabling staff to do more," said Brent Kelton, partner at Moneta Ventures and new Virdee board member. "These weren’t just words. Virdee has a robust customer roster, has grown quickly, and with its domain expertise in the hotel sector, is positioned to become a category-defining leader in the hospitality tech space. We are excited to partner with Virdee as it embarks on this new chapter of its growth."
Virdee co-founders Nadav Cornberg, left, and Branigan Mulcahy
Established in 2020 by Nadav Cornberg and Branigan Mulcahy, Virdee has expanded over the past two years, seeing almost 600 percent revenue growth in 2022, with similar expectations for 2023.
"We're pleased to announce the completion of our oversubscribed Series A funding led by Moneta Ventures," Mulcahy said. "This supports Virdee’s vision to transform the digital guest experience at hotels. Moneta Ventures' expertise in scaling businesses is invaluable as we continue to penetrate the hospitality sector. Having already supported leading hospitality brands, we're excited for the next chapter in our success story."
Virdee's platform digitally connects guests and hotels, automating front desk transactions seamlessly. It enhances guest experiences, eliminates queues, and transforms front desk staff into guest relationship managers. Virdee's installations include four Las Vegas casino hotels and other brands.
“For hospitality brands, Virdee’s pursuit of streamlining and simplifying the hotel check in process and the digital guest experience has resulted in an offering that is truly a value-add with incredible speed-to-market via our SDK,” Cornberg said. “In founding a company such as Virdee, our key goal has always been to deliver unparalleled value to the hospitality marketplace.”
In 2021, Virdee secured funding from technology investment firms, including Austin-based Silverton Partners, LiveOak Venture Partners, and DJR Advisors, bringing its total seed funding to $4 million. Furthermore, the company integrated with FreedomPay's commerce technology platform in 2022, enabling a secure payment solution with PCI-validated point-to-point encryption, EMV, NFC, currency conversion, and real-time data capabilities.
