SME growth investor, Magenta Partners, has acquired a stake in FastPayHotels (FPH), a fast growing, dynamic rate hotel wholesaler, connecting sources of supply (hotels) with sources of demand (travel agencies and tour operators). FPH represents the third investment from Magenta’s latest fund, which targets equity investments of £5m – £20m in growth businesses.
Founded in 2016 by Alex Gisbert and Elodie Leunen, FPH is a specialist hotel bed wholesaler, differentiating itself through selective hotel rate distribution and high use of technology. FPH commenced trading in 2015 and currently sells hotel rooms in over 78 countries from around 28 source markets. It operates in a $60B global hotel market which is growing at over 6% annually, with the online travel agents growing at over 6% as consumers migrate their booking habits online. Against this backdrop, the company has enjoyed explosive growth.
The investment in FPH underlines Magenta’s approach of backing high growth, niche market leaders, and partnering with driven management teams and founders to accelerate their growth. Tom Matthews of Magenta Partners has joined the FPH Board, and will work with Magenta’s Entrepreneur’s Club in supporting the company’s growth.
Tom Matthews, partner of Magenta, comments: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with such driven entrepreneurs who have already built a very differentiated business with huge growth opportunities ahead. We are very much looking forward to working closely with Alex and Elodie and our Entrepreneurs Club to help grow and scale the business over the coming years.”
Alex Gisbert, CEO of FPH comments: “We wanted an investor who valued founder entrepreneurs and appreciated the real life day to day challenges of managing growth. Magenta proved a natural fit with strong sector understanding and deep experience of growing businesses as both investors and entrepreneurs themselves. We are looking forward to the journey together.”
Magenta were advised by Addleshaw Goddard, Broseta, Deloitte and Intuitus. FPH were advised by Deloitte Legal Spain.