“The first year, I had a lot of fun, I was diving every day with customers. Then the second year, after I had the promotion, I was suddenly spending all my time taking bookings over the phone and over emails, and it was not fun any more,” he said.

“My background in IT made me realise that if there was a booking software available, it could all have been automated and done online, so when I emigrated to Australia, that was my idea.”

Its sale to an undisclosed private equity operator is not just a windfall for Mr Lenoir, but also well-known Sydney-based investor Les Szekely, who wrote Mr Lenoir his first funding cheque after meeting through the Sydney Angels network.

Mr Lenoir declined to comment on the deal, but industry insiders estimated it would be worth more than $100 million.

“We have a fantastic relationship, and at some times, I almost say he is one of the founders, because he was so helpful with the commercial side of things,” Mr Lenoir said.

Mr Szekely was also an early backer of Siteminder, and told The Australian Financial Review his existing knowledge of the market was the main factor in Mr Lenoir getting his crucial first funding.

“I first heard Simon pitch at a ‘deal screening’ meeting, and he didn’t even make the shortlist to be able to pitch to a full members meeting. He had only been in Australia for a short time, and his accent and lack of local knowledge and connections probably hampered his presentation,” Mr Szekely said.

“However, I liked the substance of what he was trying to communicate. I approached him for a chat after his pitch and the rest is history.”

Mr Szekely rang Siteminder’s founder Mike Ford to ask how easily he could add tours and activities to its product, and was convinced it was not easy, and that a big untapped opportunity was there.

Rezdy earns money through software subscription fees and taking a share of the transactions booked on its platform.

Having tired of the incessant US travel required to manage its global expansion, Mr Lenoir stepped down as CEO in 2018, around the time he became a father, and brought in Chris Atkin to replace him.

He said he sold some of his stake a couple of years ago in secondaries to buy a house and realise some of the value he had built, but the amount made through the business sale was still significant.

Mr Lenoir is already building a new fintech start-up called Budgetly, which is targeted at companies’ management of employee expenses.

Investors win

Mr Szekely’s venture capital firm EVP is also a major shareholder in Rezdy, along with ASX-listed VC fund Bailador.

EVP and Mr Lenoir sold their remaining stakes of Rezdy to the PE firm, but Mr Szekely and Bailador rolled over their investments into a new vehicle set up by the PE firm to develop Rezdy further as a global operation.

“Bailador has opted to accept scrip and roll its investment into a new entity that is well positioned to become a global leader in the tours and activity sector,” Bailador wrote to its investors late last week.

Bailador first invested $2.5 million in Rezdy in October 2015, and it said that initial investment was valued at four times more by the buyout. Bailador has made a number of follow-on investments in Rezdy, and in total has
invested $12.6 million, including $2.5 million as part of the buyout transaction.

EVP first invested in Rezdy in early 2017, and its partner Howard Liebman has been on its board since.

He said Rezdy was an ideal example of a “typical EVP company”, in that it is a business to business software company, founded by an industry insider, addressing a huge global market.

“Given its exposure to the global travel industry, Rezdy was significantly impacted by COVID. The fact that the business survived the global shutdown in travel, and emerged from COVID stronger than ever, is testament to the mission-critical nature of the Rezdy platform,” Mr Liebman said.

“Tour and activity operators rely fundamentally on the platform for sourcing online bookings. For an operator, a decision to cancel their Rezdy subscription is often tantamount to a decision to close their business.

“From a fund perspective, it makes sense for EVP to step out, but we look forward to watching Rezdy’s continued growth and success in its new structure under PE ownership.”

Mr Lenoir said the decision to step back from Rezdy had not been easy, but that he had realised his favourite job was running a company in the earlier start-up phase, and aimed to continue that now that Rezdy was finished for him.

“I think retirement is very, very overrated. I’m in my mid-40s, and I have still got a lot of energy. I have got one, maybe two more start-ups in me,” he said.

“I will stay in Australia now, my family is here and the only thing French about Rezdy was my accent.”