Troubled travel startup Zozi gets acquired by Peek

Zozi, the drama-crammed journey business startup whose former CEO not long ago sued its board, has been acquired by Peek, a rival in the excursions and pursuits company in which Zozi also competes. Phrases of the deal ended up not disclosed, but the two companies will be signing up for forces, with the belongings and crew from Zozi heading around to Peek.

The news was reported by Skift, which notes that Peek is essentially using the services of the Zozi employees and bringing its consumers on board, even though the Zozi brand name and market will be phased out.

This is a pleasant, tender landing for troubled Zozi, which has been battling with legal battles adhering to the firing of founder and CEO T.J. Sassani, who sued the board for wrongful termination and a host of other outrageous promises. Meanwhile, Zozi team advised us that Sassani had been mainly absent from the company for months (even skipping its holiday getaway party), had tricky relations with sellers and was paying out funds on ventures that other customers of the executive crew did not think in and considered could most likely bankrupt the company.

In recent days, Zozi had shifted its emphasis away from its journey and excursions market to Zozi Progress, its B2B platform for bookings and reservations. The alterations compelled the company to lay off approximately forty per cent of its team previously this yr.

But Zozi Progress held guarantee, the company considered. It said that the SaaS product allowed it to develop its earnings approximately 3x in 2016, and was on keep track of to double its earnings this yr.

Peek, on the other hand, grew 10x in the past two decades, it says. Previous summer the company announced a $10 million round of funding, which integrated Trulia founder Pete Flint signing up for its board. It has utilized that funding to devote in its bookings platform, Peek Professional.

Zozi tells us that its Zozi Progress consumers will be brought on to Peek Pro’s platform in the months in advance. The merchants on the Zozi market will be moved around to Peek.com, but Zozi’s brand name and consumer presenting will later on be shuttered.

Not all Zozi employees will be signing up for Peek, from the sound of matters. The company says it is at present finalizing the crew framework, with designs to convey alongside one another “key members” of the Peek and Zozi groups to “leverage the best expertise in the house.”

“Peek shares our eyesight close to putting operators initial, mentioned Elon Boms, Zozi board member and investor, about the deal. “And previously mentioned all, we care about making confident we supply our operators with the best services and engineering to assist develop and control their company. This is a massive gain for the business and a massive gain for our operators.”