GoCo-op Secures $23 Million in New Equity Financing; Signs Five-Year Contract with Avendra
Investors Demonstrate Confidence in B2B E-Commerce
MAITLAND, FL -- GoCo-op, the leading provider of web-based procurement systems for the hospitality industry, announced today it has secured a $23 million equity funding commitment. The Company has drawn down $12.5 million of the commitment and expects to draw down the remainder over the next year. This latest funding round was led by an existing investor, the Invemed Catalyst Fund.
Additionally, GoCo-op executed a new five-year contract with Avendra under which GoCo-op will develop, host, and manage the content of a private e-procurement portal utilized by Avendra's customers and suppliers. Avendra is the leading professional procurement services company for the hospitality industry.
"Avendra's commitment to our product and confidence in our ability to meet the e-procurement needs of its customers was instrumental to our success in raising funds in today's tech-phobic capital markets," stated David Dresner, GoCo-op's newly appointed CEO. "These funds will be used to support the rollout of our latest release of Procura and for ongoing development of our procurement solution products."
Dennis Baker, president and chief operating officer of Avendra, stated, "GoCo-op has been unique in addressing the special and highly diverse needs of the hospitality industry. GoCo-op's product, Procura, has significant advantages over the off-the-shelf products offered by their competitors. In my view, Procura is the premier e-procurement solution for the unique and specialized needs of the hospitality industry."
GoCo-op's e-procurement solutions streamline purchasing by electronically connecting buyers and suppliers and eliminating inefficiencies in the way companies purchase goods and services. Projections for this type of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce are huge. Recently, Gartner Group announced that the worldwide B2B Internet commerce market should total $8.5 trillion in 2005, and Boston Consulting Group projects B2B online purchasing will reach $4.8 trillion, or about 40 percent of total purchasing, in 2004. The North American hospitality industry alone spends an estimated $70 billion annually on goods and services.
GoCo-op, Inc. develops and hosts private e-procurement solutions for the hospitality industry and enables marketplaces for those private-solution customers. GoCo-op offers a rapidly deployable, end-to-end purchasing solution, Procura, which significantly reduces overall costs and inefficiencies for buyers and vendors. Procura is a Web-based, multi-language, multi-currency hosted solution that enables users to make immediate real-time purchases or issue RFPs to sellers. Procura allows searching aggregated multi-vendor catalogs, issuing purchase orders, order tracking, custom reporting, and interfacing into a company's accounting and inventory control systems. GoCo-op's Procura solution is being implemented and used by a number of domestic and foreign companies including Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham, ClubCorp, Bass, Fairmont, Guest Supply, and HotelnetB2B (Spain). For more information on GoCo-op and Procura, please visit
Avendra LLC is the leading professional procurement services company serving the North American hospitality market and related industries. An independent company, Avendra was established by Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, ClubCorp USA, Inc., Bass Hotels & Resorts, and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. By combining the significant volume of its customers' purchases with the operational knowledge and expertise of its experienced staff, Avendra creates purchasing programs that offer its customers the right product and service at competitive prices. Avendra offers its customers flexibility in how they place orders, including by phone, fax, or over the Internet. The company is headquartered at 702 King Farm Blvd, Rockville, MD 20850 and has regional offices throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, please call toll free, (866) AVENDRA, visit