Room 77 hires former Jetsetter chief after funding boost

Hotel search engine Room 77 has hired former Jetsetter chief executive and Kayak marketing chief Drew Patterson as its new boss.

Hotel search engine Room 77 has hired former Jetsetter chief executive and Kayak marketing chief Drew Patterson as its new boss.

His appointment as chief executive comes just months after Room 77 raised more thn $30 million in funding, including a strategic investment from Expedia.

The Californian company has raised $43.8 million so far and is focused on accelerating its growth and expanding internationally.

Simultaneous with Patterson’s appointment, Room 77 is acquiring hospitality mobile start-up CheckMate, a company he was previously involved in.

“The CheckMate technology is a great complement to Room 77’s travel search model,” a spokesman said.

Patterson, who starts at the company on April 22, said: “Room 77 is an incredible company with a world-class team. Their history of product innovation is impressive, and Room 77 has created an experience that travelers love and use again and again.

“Travel search is a category with huge potential, further accelerated by the rapid shift to mobile. I‘m thrilled to get back to my search roots in an industry I love, and I look forward to building Room 77 into a global hotel search leader.”