With further international expansion in sight, privately-owned SiteMinder is opening up about its revenue success for the first time, following a string of plaudits for the company.
Sydney, Australia – SiteMinder, the global hotel industry’s leading guest acquisition platform, today announced it has surpassed AU$100 million in recurring revenue to join a select group of globally-focused Australian technology companies with proven success in growing and scaling their business. The privately-owned company says it plans to double down on its growth strategy over the next three years, through further international expansion and new revenue streams that complement the disruptive Software-as-a-Service model that placed it among the 20 greatest pioneering technology companies to emerge from this part of the world.
SiteMinder, the brainchild of co-founders Mike Ford and Mike Rogers, began in 2006 in Sydney. Within a few months, the duo – who continue to serve on the leadership team of the business as managing director and CTO – gained their first 100 customers and, within four years, established their first international office in the UK. Today SiteMinder is the global category leader in cloud-based hotel distribution software, supporting a customer base of more than 35,000 hotels in more than 160 countries from its offices around the world, and processing more than 87 million hotel reservations each year.
More than 80 per cent of SiteMinder’s revenue now comes from outside its home market of Australia, where its product and engineering teams continue to be based to drive technical innovation in-house.
The past year was a watershed for SiteMinder as it became Airbnb’s first global hotel technology partner, announced other landmark partnerships with Ryanair and Comair Travel, and welcomed its 700th partner into the SiteMinder ecosystem. The company also entered the Soonicorn Club, identifying Australia’s potential unicorns of the future.
“From the initial concept, born out of a desire to support accommodation providers who otherwise had no chance of finding success, to becoming a truly global success story is deeply humbling – and in many ways we are just getting started. We are fortunate to have had the support of our investors and Board from Bailador, Equity Venture Partners, and TCV. Today, our purpose remains to liberate hoteliers with technology that makes a world of difference, and our ambitions are as large as ever. I am excited about the opportunity ahead in cementing SiteMinder’s leadership position alongside an executive team that has walked this path,” says Mike Ford.
Testament to SiteMinder’s fast growth, SiteMinder’s headcount in the last three years has accelerated 65 per cent to more than 700 employees worldwide. They include a string of heavyweight executive hires, notably former Xero COO Sankar Narayan who, as Chief Executive Officer, is focused on building SiteMinder’s ecosystem to address the 700,000-strong global hotel market. Among Sankar’s top focuses are new transactional revenue streams that leverage the AU$38 billion worth of hotel bookings flowing through SiteMinder’s platform.
Over the next three years, SiteMinder will also be assessing a range of capital and investment options, and strengthening its position as an employer of choice.
“Reaching AU$100 million in revenue is a proud milestone in our journey. However, we are far from complacent, given the massive global opportunity ahead of us,” says Sankar Narayan. “I’m delighted to help lead SiteMinder in achieving continued success, through deeper, global expansion and our people at the forefront. SiteMinder’s growth to date is evidence that hoteliers around the world need a simple solution to navigate a complex landscape that has been both disrupted and enabled by the digital age, lowered barriers to travel, and rising consumer expectations. From the smallest independent operators to multinational chains, we are as driven as ever to liberate every hotelier with technology for many more years to come.”
Media contact
Maria Cricchiola
+61 2 8031 1287
media@siteminder.com
About SiteMinder
In an age of rising choice and accessibility for curious travellers, SiteMinder exists to liberate hoteliers with technology that makes a world of difference. SiteMinder is the global hotel industry’s leading guest acquisition platform, ranked among technology pioneers for its smart and simple solutions that put hotels everywhere their guests are, at every stage of their journey. It’s this central role that has earned SiteMinder the trust of more than 35,000 hotels, across 160 countries, to generate in excess of 87 million reservations worth over US$28 billion in revenue for hotels each year. For more information, visit www.siteminder.com.