Restaurant booking platform Resy closed its series A funding round which was headed by Airbnb, with participation from First Data Corporation, RSE Ventures, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures.
Founded in 2014 in New York, Resy offers a consumer-focused mobile app that promises people tables at “great restaurants” when they want it. It also offers software to restaurants and its chain is spread across Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and 50 conurbations across the U.S.
Airbnb is although known for its peer-to-peer platform which connects travellers with local rented accommodations from all around the world, it has been pushing out into related experiential services too. However, back in November, it introduced a section called “trips” in its app which is based on the local experiences. Part of this involved a partnership with Resy that allowed Airbnb users to book local restaurants without leaving that app.
Thus, Airbnb’s investment will build an existing partnership between the two companies and consequentially might acquire Resy should their partnership prove fruitful.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that many of their most-treasured travel memories come from experiencing the local cuisines. So if there is a technology which will help visitors to find and book incredible local restaurants than just sharing local accommodation options, it will definitely be fruitful for them.
Resy was cofounded by entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk; Michael Montero, founder of CrowdTwist and Fotolog; and Ben Leventhal, cofounder of Eater, a food blog network now owned by Vox Media. The company had previously raised a $2 million seed round back in 2014, and its latest round of funding comes just a few months after a similar short-notice restaurant booking service called Velocity raised a $22.5 million round, so it’s clear there’s appetite in the industry for delivering easy access to fine-dining experiences.
The sole idea is to help travellers live like local when they visit a certain place.
