Hangzhou, May 8, 2018 — Lvyun, a technology leader in China’s hotel industry and a leading domestic hotel PMS service provider, announced this morning that it has received a Series B investment of 180 million RMB from Tongchuangweiye. This marks the largest funding deal in the PMS industry to date and propels Lvyun into the ranks of near-unicorn enterprises.
Tongchuangweiye is among China’s first professional private equity investment firms, established in 2000. It has long focused on investing in startups and ranks among the top in the industry in terms of assets under management. It is the third well-known venture capital institution in China to be listed on the New Third Board (stock code: 832793), and has been ranked in the TOP 10 of China’s best venture capital institutions by Zero2IPO Group and ChinaVenture for seven consecutive years. With a focus on industrial chain investment, Tongchuangweiye continues to introduce high-quality listed companies to China’s capital market. By the end of 2017, it had invested in more than 280 companies, with nearly 60 successfully listed and over 130 successfully exited. In the investment community, Tongchuangweiye is regarded as one of the domestic venture capital firms with the highest project success rate when measured by return on investment.
Lvyun is a new type of internet service enterprise driven by technology. Established in 2010, its founding and core team boasts nearly 30 years of experience in hotel informatization and a leading technological background. Its independently developed and operated iHotel hotel information platform has formed four major business clusters: Lvyun PMS, Oracle Hospitality (Opera PMS), data platform, and e-commerce platform. As of now, Lvyun PMS has signed contracts with 12,000 hotels and established partnerships with more than 20 of China’s top 60 hotel groups. The Oracle Hospitality business has completed the development of the UIC (Universal Interface Center) and UPG (Universal Payment Gateway), obtained certifications such as Oracle OXI, OWS, KIOSK, IFC8, and OPI, and has been recognized by most international hotel groups. It has signed contracts for dozens of newly opened and maintenance hotels. The data platform business has established strategic partnerships with nearly 100 B-end enterprises in the tourism industry, with 720,000 rooms online. Its e-commerce product sales cover thousands of hotels, with operations in over 1,700 hotels, achieving significant economic benefits.
Yang Mingkui, Chairman and CEO of Lvyun, believes that Tongchuangweiye’s investment provides important financial support for Lvyun to solidify its strategic position as a technology leader in China’s hotel industry, to build a digital service ecosystem for China’s hotels, and to empower hotel marketing with technology. At the same time, it officially marks the beginning of Lvyun’s transformation and independent march toward the capital market, providing capital backing for Lvyun to lead the industry with technology and reshape the industry’s new landscape.
Previously, on September 8, 2016, Lvyun received an A and A+ round equity and debt financing of 85 million RMB from Shouye Capital, Boguan Assets, Xiamu Investment, and Zheshang Bank. Over the past two years, Lvyun’s industry influence and recognition have significantly increased, making it one of the most important forces impacting the informatization process of the hotel industry.
In the mobile internet era where new technologies continue to emerge, the industry has entered a platform integration phase following the cloudification of PMS, as well as an industry opportunity period for the dividends of the hotel sharing platform era. This investment is a concrete practice of Lvyun’s corporate vision of “dedicated to hotel technology, achieving our shared dreams” and its business philosophy of “focus, innovation, pragmatism, and mutual benefit.” Lvyun’s innovation in China’s hotel technology applications, breaking through the hotel industry chain, interconnecting systems, and independently developing services for the hotel industry will surely gain universal recognition within the industry.