Groupize, a Gloucester-based startup focused on group booking, has raised $2 million in funding led by Golden Seeds and joined by Launchpad Venture Group.

Founded in 2010 by travel industry veterans, Groupize’s software helps coordinate group booking of hotel rooms and conference or meeting spaces. As the company describes it:

Planners of groups needing more than five rooms could not “shop and compare” or even see real-time pricing and availability — benefits that individual travelers have enjoyed for years.  Hotels would dedicate valuable human resources to manage the booking process of small groups (5-25 rooms), rather than to larger, higher revenue groups.  Groupize has removed the tedious hassles and challenges, and what used to take hours and days, can be done in minutes and at a special group rate.

Having booked hotels for business events in a past life, I can verify that this is a real problem.

“Groupize addresses a real pain point, which makes this a very exciting opportunity,” said Gail Hoffman, Golden Seeds Managing Director who is joining the Groupize Board of Directors. “The company has the experience, and the team, to really differentiate itself in this market segment, and to rapidly get to critical mass with its licensing and B2B approach.”

The bet here seems to be that Groupize can corner this significant piece of hotels’ businesses before existing hotel booking services can expand beyond room selection into meetings, weddings, and the like.