PS27 Ventures invests $500,000 in AI-powered event space matchmaker (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Jacksonville venture capital fund PS27 announced Friday it has made a $500,000 investment in RestauRent, a company that helps pair people with venues.
The Rhode Island-based company’s service is not unlike when people search on the internet for event venues. But instead of drawing up a list of locations based on one’s search history, RestauRent leverages artificial intelligence.
“We know all the brand hotel names,” PS27 Ventures CEO Jim Stallings said. “What people don’t know are these niche venues, these quiet places that you’ve never, ever heard of. That’s the beauty of artificial intelligence, it knows you. And that just takes information and data about consumers and spaces, and the machine does the work.”
Beyond the product itself, Stallings told the Business Journal he was impressed by RestauRent CEO and Co-Founder Nick Cianfaglione.
“[Cianfaglione] saw an incredible problem,” Stallings said. “What he’s doing in the event space is monetizing real estate, this extra space and he’s also giving people unique experiences … And what he does is he connects the owner of the space and the person that’s looking for a unique experience.”
Cianfaglione first met PS27 in December 2022 when his company was just a seedling of an idea, he said in a video statement. Today, that’s grown to a fully fledged partnership.
“We’re so excited to have PS27 a part of the RestauRent family because they bring so much more than just funding,” Cianfaglione said in the video. “Their strategic support across guidance, connections and advice on every single aspect of the company is exactly what startups of all stages, but specifically our stage, needs to grow to those next very crucial stages.”
PS27 Ventures’ initial investment in RestauRent is $500,000, with plans to invest up to $1 million more as it grows, Stallings said.
“We expect the company to grow to a $100 million valuation in three years,” he said. “They’re well on their way of doing that. They’ve got over $7 million of activity on their pipeline on their platform right now, so we think this will easily be attainable.”