Velocity Ventures, a hospitality and travel-focused venture capital firm based in Singapore, announces the initial closing of the first-ever venture capital fund dedicated to hospitality and travel startups.
The fund has a Covid-19 themed investment mandate, focusing on supporting distressed and disrupting seed and early growth stage hospitality and travel startups in Southeast Asia.
The initial closing brings the fund close to 40 per cent of the targeted USD20 million commitment. Investors in the new fund include strategic individual investors, family offices, and other institutional capital.
The first closing of this one-of-a-kind investment fund validates investor belief in a long term, strong recovery for the hospitality and travel industry.
“We are pleased to announce the first close for the Velocity Hospitality and Travel Fund I. In such unprecedented times, we believe the pandemic will deliver a period of unparalleled innovation and opportunity in the Hospitality and Travel space as the industry transforms and adapts post Covid-19. This, coupled with the adjustment to valuations driven by the extreme distress in the sector, provides an unprecedented opportunity to invest, support the industry and earn outsized returns. The success of this fundraising is a strong validation of our strategy.” says Nicholas Cocks, Founder and Managing Partner of Velocity Ventures.
Along with the first closing, the fund demonstrates their vested interest in the burgeoning F&B and Hospitality tech solution space with 2 key investments: Hong Kong-based F&B SaaS platform Aigens, and Singapore-based hotel revenue and distribution management platform Zuzu Hospitality.
To build value for their investors, Velocity Ventures takes a holistic approach by leveraging on their unique network of key influencers and strategic industry partners to secure proprietary deal flow and support portfolio companies with strategic expertise.
“In order to recover from the Covid pandemics as quickly as possible, collaboration in the global travel industry is more important than ever,” says Christine Wang, Managing Director of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, Lufthansa Group’s digitisation unit. “We are excited to support Velocity Ventures with our data-driven expertise of the global travel and mobility tech ecosystem, while also broadening our own perspective and network through this partnership.”
The fund is continuing to source further capital commitments and is slated to final close at the end of 2021.
