An initiative born of a family conversation
The idea for Astound Ventures emerged in May 2025 during a family discussion between Burt and Alex Cabañas. The pair, who have sixty years of hospitality experience between them, share a common view: in an economic climate marked by inflation, improving hotel profitability means looking first at what happens inside operations rather than multiplying development projects.
Alex Cabañas explains that, after discussions with more than 300 collaborators across the industry, they chose to invest their own money and raise a fund to back companies that deliver tangible value by reinventing the operations and processes of hotel real estate. In his view, the fund serves a dual purpose, both financial and strategic, directly benefiting Pyramid Global Hospitality and Convene Hospitality Group, the two businesses he also leads.
NUM, or net unit margin, refers to the net margin generated at the level of an individual hotel – in other words, what actually remains as profit once all operating costs have been deducted, property by property.
It is the central metric in Astound Ventures’ investment thesis: rather than seeking spectacular technological innovations, the fund selects solutions – operational, technological or guest-experience-related – whose sole selection criterion is their ability to make a tangible improvement to this net margin at the level of each hotel unit, regardless of the sector the solution originates from.
Governance rooted in operations
The fund brings together three complementary profiles. Burt Cabañas, chairman of Astound Ventures, founded and chairs Benchmark Resorts & Hotels, an international hotel group, and is also co-chairman of the management company Pyramid. His son Alex Cabañas, the fund’s chief executive, is executive chairman of Pyramid and sits on the board of Convene, a specialist in meeting and event spaces.
Chief financial officer Kirk Jones brings expertise in hotel finance and investment analysis, gained in particular as CFO of Benchmark and of Capella Hotels. For the founders, this combination of operational expertise and financial acumen is a key asset in accelerating the adoption of innovations across Astound’s industry network.
NUM: an investment thesis centred on margin
The fund’s core concept, “net unit margin” (NUM), refers to the net margin generated at the level of each individual property. Astound Ventures does not target technology for its own sake, but any product, service or solution capable of directly improving this metric, whether through operational efficiency or the guest and employee experience.
Risk aversion, misaligned interests, under-investment and slow adoption are holding the industry back, argues Alex Cabañas, who believes it must adapt faster. He adds that the hotel industry should not wait for Silicon Valley to solve its problems, and that those closest to the front line must build and fund the solutions themselves.
An initial portfolio of ten companies
Astound Ventures has already invested in ten companies and aims to back up to twenty over a three-year period. Its first investments span a wide range of fields: sustainable textile solutions, heated outdoor furniture, mobile point-of-sale technology, open-source wireless energy management, autonomous travel technologies, and several travel and event management platforms.
The fund has already held talks with more than 100 solution providers and has raised over €7 million to date, against an initial target of €26 million, subscribed entirely by the community of industry collaborators. This pooled approach, which the founders describe as “smart money”, deliberately excludes conventional institutional allocations.
Among the companies backed, Ludovic Siouffi, co-founder and CEO of Fox Fold Products, which specialises in sustainable textile solutions, notes that Astound Ventures’ involvement has accelerated his company’s credibility with the executives and owners of major hotel groups. Kevin Long, founder of Outmore Living, a specialist in heated outdoor furniture, highlights the fund’s contribution in terms of introductions and sales velocity, beyond financing alone.
Astound Collaborators: an influential network in its own right
To strengthen its mission, Astound Ventures has created Astound Collaborators, a global network of leaders from hotel real estate and adjacent asset classes. The initiative began more than a year ago with a series of one-to-one conversations, which gradually developed into a wider community through successive referrals.
The network brings together owners, brands and hotel management companies as well as industry partners. According to Alex Cabañas, the aim is first to build collective influence grounded in the industry’s credibility and trust, in order to generate commercial opportunities, reduce execution risk and foster product development in direct contact with operators.
Outlook
Alex Cabañas says Astound Ventures intends to position itself in response to the upheaval under way in hotel revenue, operations and distribution, driven by artificial intelligence. Here, as elsewhere, the fund openly favours proven operational bets over the pursuit of technology unicorns.
For the hotel investment ecosystem, the initiative forms part of a broader movement in which major private equity funds are increasing their exposure to hospitality, while specialist firms that have already supported the growth of independent hotel groups are stepping up targeted equity investments. Astound Ventures stands apart through its exclusive grounding in the sector’s community of operators and owners.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Astound Ventures: hoteliers launch collaborative fund to boost NUM
Fund founded by Burt Cabañas (Benchmark Resorts & Hotels), Alex Cabañas (Pyramid Global Hospitality) and CFO Kirk Jones
Based in The Woodlands, Texas; initial target of $30 million (approx. €26 million), raised entirely from industry collaborators
More than $8 million (approx. €7 million) raised to date, with over 100 solution providers engaged
10 companies already backed, targeting up to 20 investments over a three-year period
Investment thesis centred on “net unit margin” (NUM), spanning operational efficiency and guest/employee experience
Astound Collaborators network gathers owners, brands, management companies and adjacent real estate leaders
