Zest.Golf is pushing the frontier of technology to transform golf industry bookings from offline to online, in a similar way to the travel & leisure industry. Its open, B2B, universal Channel Manager solution simply connects golf courses, tee time reservation systems with sales channels worldwide making tee times searchable and bookable directly from within any golf travel application or website.
Zest.Golf has successfully launched their tee time Channel Manager solution to the Golf travel industry and already has a presence in most countries across Europe. Zest.Golf also signed various partners including IAGTO, the Global Golf Tourism Organisation, leading industry tee time reservation systems and continues to grow its network of golf courses and resorts including many flagship golf resort properties.
Over recent months, Zest.Golf has largely focussed on product development and platform enhancements. Earlier this year, Zest restarted commercial activities and reopened investment discussions following an ease in travel restrictions and consumer confidence. The Dutch Sport Tech Ventures was the perfect strategic fit for Zest. Golf with a core team offering years of industry experience in sports, technology and finance across multiple markets.
Oliver Dury, CEO, Zest.Golf Technologies, said: “We are really excited about our partnership with the Dutch SportTech Ventures. We believe we’ve found the perfect strategic partner at the right time for our business.
DSTV not only provides us with funds to accelerate our growth, but also with experience, know-how and a network at the highest level in sports & technology. They undoubtedly add significant value to our management team and will help us identify and open up new strategic opportunities in Europe and internationally in line with our global ambitions.”
Dutch Sport Tech Ventures CEO, Alexander Janssen, has worked in all aspects of the sports and technology world with 20 years of board positions, mergers and management and as co-owner of 3 sports tech scale-ups.
For Alexander the decision to invest was an easy one. “We are delighted to partner with the Zest team who combine technology and golf industry expertise with a lifetime passion for the game. We’ve seen how similar technology revolutionised the travel market yet the tee time booking experience currently lags well behind. Zest significantly streamlines a labour intensive booking process and meets the changing demands of the market, especially for the global golf tourism industry.”
DSTV’s, Chief Investor Relations, Eric van der Maarel, a financial and sales professional, entrepreneur and investor with over 32 years of experience in asset management, portfolio management, sales and investor relations adds “A lack of middleware technology in the global marketplace has limited connectivity and prevented any real opportunity for the golf industry to innovate or transition bookings from offline to online. The pressure for change following Covid-19 is real and Zest paves the way for the industry to meet new standards in delivering on consumer expectation. Players and the game will benefit greatly from the technology. We look forward to working with the Zest team to deliver their game changing technology to a global market place.”
Fact File
Zest.Golf Technologies, based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands,
Zest.Golf Technologies was founded in 2018 by golf industry professionals and technology experts after industry research demonstrated a frustration among golf courses around the world at the lack of opportunity to sell tee-times via online distribution channels.
There are 728M rounds of golf played annually by around 60M golfers. However, less than 5% of golf trade rounds are booked online. Compare that to flights and hotel rooms where online represents around 75%. This represents a massive opportunity in that space for B2B tee time bookings.
Currently, most golf travel companies worldwide are still checking tee time availability and making bookings by phone and email due to a lack of middleware technology in the golf industry.
Zest have developed the first neutral and universal B2B platform for the golf industry that provides an open connection between golf courses, tee time reservation software providers and sales channel partners worldwide meaning the industry can accelerate the transition to online bookings.
Zest help golf courses grow their business, reach new customers, boost revenue and increase profitability by connecting them with a global network of online sales channel partners including golf tour operators, websites,
APP’s hotels and OTAs who can use our ready-made booking form or API to access tee times real time. Our APIs are fast becoming the industry standard.
Zest help Golf Travel companies become more efficient with tee time bookings, allowing them to reduce costs and speed up their response time to clients.
In the future, Zest will enable major travel providers (for example Airbnb, Skyscanner and Expedia) to sell tee times directly via their websites delivering a truly global marketplace for the distribution of tee times online.
Zest.Golf helps deliver consumer expectations in today’s world: instant choice, variety and ease of access Dutch Sport Tech Ventures, based in Amstelveen, The Netherlands The mission of the Dutch Sport Tech Ventures is to make a positive contribution to sport and vitality by investing in sustainable sports, technology and data companies.
Dutch Sport Tech Ventures is the only investment company in the Netherlands that facilitates investments in multiple innovative and scalable sports technology companies across a well diversified set of verticals.
DSTV invest in young start-ups and scale-ups, with scalable and innovative sports technology products and data products. Within the world of sports tech, DSTV focus on carefully selected exponential growth markets, such as e-sports, OTT streaming, fantasy sports, sports betting, VR, fan engagement, performance monitoring and improvement, and data & analytics.
The global sports tech market is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2024 and $50 billion by 2030.
