Workgrounds

Workgrounds is a technology company founded in 2022 that provides a platform to automate the sourcing, booking, and management of hotel room blocks for corporate clients. The company was established by Nikhil Sethi and Garrett Ullom, a duo of serial entrepreneurs who previously founded the advertising technology firm Adaptly, which was acquired by Accenture in 2018. The founders' experience managing distributed teams and organizing company gatherings at both Adaptly and the much larger Accenture highlighted the manual, time-consuming process of arranging group hotel stays, inspiring the creation of Workgrounds.

The firm targets the corporate group travel market, which is valued at approximately $75 billion in the United States alone. Its clients range from fast-growing companies with 100 to 5,000 employees, such as SeatGeek, RevenueCat, and Yieldmo, to larger enterprises that need to organize team offsites, conference attendance, or client meetings. Workgrounds operates on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, generating revenue through different fee structures. Clients can use the service for free with Workgrounds charging a 5% commission on ad hoc bookings, or they can opt for an annual spending commitment which eliminates the percentage-based fee.

The platform leverages artificial intelligence and automation to streamline the entire workflow. It can integrate with a company's Human Resource Information System (HRIS) to automatically generate and send Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to numerous hotels in a target market with a single click. The AI-powered agents then parse the proposals, handle negotiations, and manage change orders, presenting the user with optimized results without the need for manual follow-ups. This process is designed to save travel planners significant time and achieve cost savings, with the company reporting an average of 31% savings on hotel bookings. In November 2024, Workgrounds announced a pre-seed funding round of $2.6 million from investors including Oceans Ventures, Hannah Grey, Volo Ventures, and deftly.vc to expand its operations. Subsequent reports in early 2025 indicated a total of $4.5 million raised.

Keywords: corporate travel management, hotel room blocks, AI booking agent, group travel automation, business travel SaaS, RFP automation, team offsites, corporate lodging, travel and expense, employee travel, hotel sourcing platform, group booking software, travel logistics, enterprise travel tech, hospitality technology, travel procurement, HRIS integration, corporate event planning, accommodation management, business trip coordination