Cendyn acquires Knowland and announces private equity partner Haveli Investments

Integrated hospitality solutions leader dives deeper into group sales, meetings, and events in its latest acquisition supported by its investors, including Haveli Investments

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cendyn, a global hospitality cloud-based technology company, has acquired Knowland, the US-based leader in data-as-a-service intelligence on meetings and events for hospitality. The strategic acquisition presents an opportunity to enhance sales prospecting by yielding greater bookings in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) space.

Knowland's platform includes extensive market intelligence data on meetings and events gathered from over 7,500 hotels across the USA and a select handful of international markets. Knowland's products connect hoteliers with market insights to drive more revenue, accelerate the sales cycle, and optimize processes to achieve group sales goals.

Alongside Cendyn's current investors, earlier this year Cendyn welcomed Austin-based Haveli Investments to its private equity portfolio. With their focus on high-quality technology companies, the backing by Haveli Investments along with Accel-KKR puts Cendyn on a strong path to deliver innovation for the hospitality industry. The pairing of Knowland's meeting and event data with Cendyn's Sales CRM, Proposals, and Grouprev platforms highlights the opportunity this acquisition brings to their customers, empowering them to find and drive group bookings with a complete and single solution.

"To effectively sell group business, hoteliers need immediate access to data, and Knowland's event intelligence platform is undoubtedly the market leader in this area. Its sales intelligence complements our Sales CRM, helping hoteliers find their target audience. Then, using our Proposals and Grouprev platforms, hoteliers can complete the booking process. It's the perfect fit with our commitment to helping hoteliers 'Find, Book, and Grow' their business. With Haveli Investments' dedication and expertise in technology joining our expansion, we're poised to deliver a bright future for Cendyn's customers," said Jack Blaha, CEO at Cendyn.

"Salespeople thrive on information, and over the past 20 years, Knowland has provided them with essential data to help target new business efforts and hone in on genuine leads," said Jeff Bzdawka, CEO at Knowland. "This exciting new era furthers our commitment to improving the working lives of hotel sales teams and helps shift the needle towards a proactive sales approach to group business."

According to the US Travel Association, after a slow recovery, business travel is expected to regain 95% of its 2019 peak in 2024. The acquisition provides Cendyn with the opportunity to equip its customers with a combined event intelligence and B2B prospecting solution, simplifying and automating the sales process to ease the management and success of sales outreach.

"We are excited to partner with Cendyn, its leadership team, and all of its shareholders, including Accel-KKR to capitalize on the growth opportunities that lie ahead," said Ian Loring, Senior Managing Director and Executive Chair at Haveli Investments. "We believe Cendyn's broad portfolio of hospitality solutions uniquely positions it to help continue capturing market share, expanding into new markets, and driving value for its customers."

Discover more about Cendyn's range of products and services at cendyn.com

For requests and further information contact: 
Megan McIntyre - +44 (0)7981 930 304 - megan@haynesmarcoms.agency
Ryan Haynes - +44 (0)7919 510 051 - ryan@haynesmarcoms.agency

About Cendyn
Cendyn is a global hospitality cloud-based technology company that enables hotels to drive revenue, maximize profitability, and create deeper connections with guests through its integrated solutions.

Serving hoteliers for nearly 30 years, Cendyn drives commercial success for hotels through its Find, Book, Grow promise: find the right guests; drive them to book direct, and grow loyalty and revenue across the spectrum of digital guest interactions.

Cendyn has over 32,000 customers worldwide in more than 150 countries. The company supports its growing customer base from locations across the globe, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bangkok, and India.

To find out more, visit cendyn.com

About Knowland
Celebrating its 20th year in 2024, Knowland is the world's leading provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality. With the industry's largest historical database of actualized events, thousands of customers trust Knowland to sell group smarter and maximize their revenue. Knowland operates globally and is headquartered just outside Washington, DC.

To find out more, visit www.knowland.com

About Haveli
Haveli Investments is an Austin-based private equity firm that seeks to invest in the highest quality companies in the technology sector through control, minority or structured equity and debt investments with a focus on software, data, gaming, and adjacent industries. The firm seeks to partner with innovative companies, entrepreneurs, and management teams throughout a company's life cycle. Haveli's experienced team of investors and diverse industry experts will provide operational and strategic support, enabling portfolio companies to focus on driving innovation and increasing growth, scale, and operating margins. Underscoring Haveli's investments is an unwavering focus on DEI and sustainability. For more information, please visit www.haveliinvestments.com, or follow Haveli on LinkedIn, @Haveli Investments.

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

Cendyn acquires Knowland and announces private equity partner Haveli Investments

TOKYO, Oct. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PeptiGrowth Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Jiro Sugimoto) has successfully developed a novel synthetic peptide called "FGF2 alternative peptide (FGFR1c agonist)", which has equivalent function to recombinant FGF2 (Fibroblast Growth Factor 2, basic FGF (bFGF)). This product will be on the market at the beginning of October 2024.

Development of Synthetic Peptide Growth Factors by PeptiGrowth

Traditional growth factors and cytokines used in regenerative medicine and cell therapy manufacturing face several quality issues, including lot-to-lot variability, potential contamination with biological impurities, low stability, and high costs. PeptiGrowth has focused on developing a series of synthetic peptides that address these challenges while maintaining functionality equivalent to conventional growth factors and cytokines. Their peptides are completely chemically synthesized and free from animal components, enabling the formulation of xeno-free and chemically defined cell culture media.

About FGF2 alternative peptide (FGFR1c agonist) [Product code: PG-011]

The FGF2 Alternative Peptide (PG-011) is a dimeric peptide composed of cyclic peptides that bind to human FGFR1c. PG-011 exhibits agonist activity toward FGFR1c by binding to it, thereby activating signaling pathways in various cell types.

PeptiGrowth has confirmed that PG-011 promotes the proliferation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at approximately one-third the concentration of FGF2 when compared on a ng/mL basis. Additionally, in collaboration with the CiRA Foundation, they evaluated PG-011's ability to maintain the undifferentiated state of human iPSCs. Three iPSC lines were cultured for 7 days in media containing either 100 ng/mL (~5.9 nM) of FGF2 or the same molar concentration (equivalent to ~30 ng/mL) of PG-011, followed by three passages. Afterward, cell morphology observations and undifferentiated marker measurements were conducted. Following three passages, iPSCs cultured in both PG-011 and FGF2 exhibited nearly identical morphology. Furthermore, analysis of undifferentiated markers (SSEA4 and TRA-1-60) indicated that iPSCs cultured with PG-011 displayed a similar positivity rate to those cultured with FGF2. Cell proliferation rates during the culture period were also equivalent under both conditions. These results suggest that PG-011 has the ability to maintain iPSCs in an undifferentiated state, comparable to FGF2.

Recombinant FGF2 is known for its low stability, as it degrades and loses activity easily under culture conditions. This necessitates higher concentrations and frequent medium changes, significantly increasing production costs and workload. PeptiGrowth has confirmed that PG-011 maintained its full activity even after 4 days of incubation at 37°C, whereas FGF2's activity significantly declined under the same conditions, demonstrating the superior stability of PG-011.

Moreover, they assessed the reactivity of PG-011 with bovine cells, as FGF2 is a key growth factor in cultivated meat production. PG-011 efficiently promoted the proliferation of bovine muscle satellite cells, suggesting that PG-011 may demonstrate cross-reactivity across various cell types, including those of non-human origin, making it a promising candidate for use in cultivated meat production.

PG-011 provides cell proliferation and undifferentiated state maintenance comparable to FGF2 but with superior stability, reducing both usage costs and workload. It also shows excellent proliferation activity in both human and bovine cells, making it a compelling choice for regenerative medicine and cultivated meat production.

Product name:                  FGF2 alternative peptide (FGFR1c agonist)
Product code:                   PG-011
Product form:                   Lyophilized
Storage conditions:           -20°C or less
Purity:                              ≥95% by HPLC
Molecular weight:             5127.81(Acetate)
Size:                                 10 µg, 50 μg (volume per glass vial)

*This product can be provided with an Animal Component Free (ACF) certificate.
*This product is for testing and research use only (RUO).
*There is a possibility that the specifications can change.

If you would like to purchase our products, please contact us using the information below.

For customers who would like to purchase GMP compliant products as well as the above PG products in bulk scale, please contact us using the information below.

Development of other peptides from PeptiGrowth

We have developed alternative peptides targeting numerous growth factors and cytokines. To date, we have launched 11 products and plan to launch several additional growth factor alternative peptides targeting PDGF-AA, KGF, and IL-15 between late 2024 and mid- 2025. Details will be updated on our website (https://peptigrowth.com/en/) . If you are interested, please contact us using the following contact information.

Contacts for inquiries or additional information:

PeptiGrowth Inc.               E-mail: contact@peptigrowth.com     TEL：+81-70-4503-1497

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

PeptiGrowth Inc. is Launching a Novel Synthetic FGF2 Alternative Peptide (FGFR1c Agonist)

PeptiGrowth Inc. is Launching a Novel Synthetic FGF2 Alternative Peptide (FGFR1c Agonist)