LeisureLink Announces $6.2 Million Venture Round

Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:00am EDT
 
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Rapid Growth During Recession Drives Investment
PASADENA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
LeisureLink, Inc, the leading distribution and revenue management platform for
specialty lodging suppliers, today announced that it has closed the first
tranche of a $6.2 million equity investment round. The investment was led by
Mission Ventures and Clearstone Venture Partners, with additional participation
from other insiders. 

"LeisureLink has dramatically grown revenues in spite of the difficult economic
environment, and we believe this is the right time to invest in establishing a
dominant position in specialty lodging," said Ted Alexander, Partner at Mission
Ventures. 

"This new capital gives us the resources to cope with surging demand from both
our suppliers and new distribution partners," said Erik Hovanec, President and
CEO of LeisureLink. "Specialty lodging suppliers need new sources of revenue
quickly in this difficult economic environment, and it is critical that we
maintain our ability to have new properties up and running in time for their
peak seasons," he added. 

"Vacation rentals and specialty lodging are clearly the hottest part of the
travel industry," said Jim Armstrong, Managing Director of Clearstone Venture
Partners, "and we want LeisureLink to become the major player in the electronic
distribution for this high growth sector. We have invested in dozens of content
distribution companies, and LeisureLink`s ability to monetize content is very
impressive," said Armstrong. "LeisureLink is creating great value for its
distribution partners," he added, "and that is allowing the company to expand
their network rapidly." 

"We will use this capital to grow beyond OTA and GDS distribution," said
Hovanec. "We are aggressively investing in new products and channels, some
obvious and some not so obvious, in order to fulfill our mission of bringing
specialty lodging to the mass market," he concluded. 

In addition to distribution services, LeisureLink will continue to invest in its
products such as its booking engine and customizable timeshare resort rental
program. "Rental programs are an important source of revenue and new consumer
traffic for our affiliated resorts, particularly in the current difficult
environment," said Gordon Gurnik, president, North America, Group RCI. "We are
pleased with our investment and to continue our partnership with LeisureLink to
bring new consumers into our affiliated resorts," said Gurnik. 

"We are glad to secure the capital to fund LeisureLink`s continued rapid
growth," said Erik Hovanec. "At a time when other companies are experiencing
financial difficulties, it is critical to have the support of investors and
partners such as Mission, Clearstone and Group RCI," said Hovanec. 

About LeisureLink(TM)

LeisureLink powers global distribution and demand for the vacation rental and
specialty lodging industry. Our distribution platform and proprietary Demand
Management System enable property managers to increase bookings and optimize
revenue across thousands of distribution channels. For more information visit
www.LeisureLink.com and to view properties go to www.ABetterStay.com. 

About Group RCI

Group RCI, part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies, (NYSE:WYN) is the
worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the European leader in vacation
rentals, with exclusive access for specified periods to more than 67,000
vacation properties in approximately 100 countries. The company is comprised of
vacation exchange, including RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and
provider of travel services to businesses and consumers and The Registry
Collection, the world`s largest luxury exchange program; vacation rentals,
including Endless Vacation RentalsSM, Landal GreenParks, Novasol, and more than
30 other vacation rental brands, through which vacationers can rent a variety of
property types, from city apartments to villas; and NorthCourse, Leisure Real
Estate Solutions, an international leader in providing a full spectrum of
advisory, research, and asset management services. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
is one of the world`s largest hospitality companies with leading brands in
lodging franchising, vacation ownership, vacation rentals and vacation exchange.
For additional information visit www.grouprci.com or the media center of
www.wyndhamworldwide.com. 

About Mission Ventures

Mission Ventures helps build successful enterprises in Southern California and
creates superior returns on investment for its investors. This is accomplished
by investing in the most promising early-stage companies in high growth,
emerging markets, and providing significant assistance to those companies as
they develop. The Partnership brings value-added capital, experience, management
talent, and guidance to the most outstanding and innovative ideas and
entrepreneurs in the region. For more information visit
http://www.missionventures.com. 

About Clearstone Venture Partners

Clearstone Venture Partners provides venture capital for technology innovators
in California and beyond. With offices in Santa Monica and Menlo Park,
Clearstone has more than $650 million of committed capital. It invests across
the horizon of technology markets, including software, enterprise
infrastructure, storage, communications, security, wireless, semiconductors,
advanced optics and both consumer & business Internet. Clearstone has a proven
history of leadership in financing and building high-growth technology
start-ups, having backed segment-leading companies including PayPal (acquired by
eBay), Overture (acquired by Yahoo), United Online (UNTD), PeopleSupport (PSPT),
AOptix Technologies, ARIO Data Networks, Internet Brands, Meru Networks and
Novariant. For more information, visit http://www.clearstone.com. 





LeisureLink Inc.
Steve Reich, Senior Vice President, Sales, 626-696-4530
Slreich@LeisureLink.com
or
Group RCI
Leah Latour, 973-753-6560
Leah.Latour@RCI.com
or
For Clearstone Venture Partners
Comunicano, Inc.
Brooke Davidson, +1 858-314-2958
bdavidson@comunicano.com
or
Sue Huss, +1 619-379-4396
sue.huss@comunicano.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009

 

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