Live entertainment discovery platform Fever has secured over $100 million (€87.7m) in funding to fuel its continued growth in music and sports.

The investment comes from L Catterton and Point72 Private Investments through the completion of an equity funding process, including existing investors.

Based in Madrid, Spain and New York, US, Fever is led by Spaniards Ignacio Bachiller Ströhlein, Alexandre Perez Casares and Francisco Hein.

The platform, which operates in more than 40 countries and reaches over 200 million people every month, makes personalised recommendations for users to enjoy unique, in-person local experiences such as immersive exhibitions, interactive theatrical experiences and festivals.

The platform operates in more than 40 countries and reaches over 200 million people every month

The platform has recently secured partnerships with promoters such as TCE Presents, Cercle Music and Last Tour, venues such as the Clapham Grand and Brooklyn Storehouse, and festivals including Rock in Rio Lisboa, Primavera Sound, and Pitchfork Music Festival.

It also provides ticketing and demand generation for some of the world’s most renowned sports organisations, including Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, LIV Golf and the X Games.

Fever says that backing from Point72 Private Investments underscores the “growing role of technology in shaping the sports industry,” and the firm is now exploring opportunities to work with the New York Mets, owned by Point72 Chairman and CEO Steve Cohen.

Fever will also leverage L Catterton’s consumer insights and look to “unlock new opportunities to engage audiences through experiential marketing and branded events, in line with the growing trend of brands leveraging live experiences to strengthen customer connections.”

This year, the company achieved over 20x revenue growth from pre-pandemic levels, while maintaining full-year EBITDA profitability.

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TicketManager, a software company that specialises in managing corporate event tickets and client entertainment, has received $110 million (€97m) in investment.

Private equity firm Valeas Capital Partners secured a majority stake in TicketManager to “support its strategic growth plans”. Co-founder and chief executive Tony Knopp and chief operating officer Ken Hanscom are retaining a minority interest.

Founded in 2007, TicketManager offers ticket and event management, loyalty rewards programmes for employees and customers, Salesforce integration and more.

The firm, which has offices in Arizona, California, New York and London, says it works directly with Ticketmaster, Tickets.com, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Oracle Sales Cloud, and integrates with approximately 400 venues and teams worldwide.

According to TicketManager, companies spend more than $600bn on customer entertainment but 43% of corporate tickets are not used and fewer than 20% of organisations leverage modern software to optimise these investments and mitigate compliance risk.

“Live events are an important investment for businesses of all sizes,” says Tony Knopp, CEO and co-founder of TicketManager. “Whether major global sponsorships, naming rights for stadiums, luxury suites or even a few season tickets for the local team, companies use them to attract and keep customers while building their brands. But in today’s market, many companies struggle with growing pressure to show the value of their ticket spending. We knew there was a better way, and that’s why we created TicketManager – to make company tickets easy and prove the return on investment with cutting-edge technology and services.”

“Investments into customer entertainment are increasingly viewed as a critical driver of client engagement”

Ed Woiteshek, co-founder and managing partner of Valeas Capital Partners, adds: “In today’s environment, where investments into customer entertainment are increasingly viewed as a critical driver of client engagement, businesses are prioritising measurable returns on investment. TicketManager has established itself as the category leader in its space, helping deliver actionable insights and analytics to businesses that link ticket usage to business outcomes.”

TicketManager’s client base includes 500 global brands including Verizon, FedEx, Adidas, Anheuser-Busch, and Mastercard. It is also an official partner of numerous professional and collegiate sports organisations, including franchises in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer.

In other news, artist-first ticketing platform Seated has been sold back to its founders, David McKay and John Griffin, four years after it was acquired by Sofar Sounds.

Launched in 2017, Seated powers website tour listings, SMS-based presale registration, audience-building and pixeling for their ad strategy, official waitlists for sold-out shows and direct-to-fan ticketing.

Over the past year, artists such as Noah Kahan, Shawn Mendes, and Goose have used Seated to sell 100% of tickets for select shows. Hundreds of other artists, like Brandi Carlile, John Legend, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Anderson .Paak, use Seated to sell their own presale tickets direct-to-fan on their website, giving them more control of the ticketing experience and their fan data.

The firm has also powered SMS-based presales for tours by Post Malone, Gracie Abrams, Lorde, The Lumineers, and provided data capture, demand insights and SMS presale registrations for Sphere residencies with Eagles, Dead & Company, and Kenny Chesney.

More recently, Seated powered the official sold-out waitlists for major tours from Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Noah Kahan.

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Gigpig, a live entertainment marketplace and gig booking platform, has completed a £1.3m seed investment round, led by Haatch Ventures and Notion Capital.

The business gives artists a free platform to find and play gigs at local venues in the UK whilst providing venues with a streamlined approach to search, book and manage entertainment in-house, booking musicians directly.

Since launching in June 2022, GigPig has launched in more than 22 cities across the country. Over 600 bars, pubs and clubs have signed up, booking more than 31,000 gigs so far.

The latest investment will be used to create more gigging opportunities across the UK, helping more pubs and bars boost their revenues with live music and give artists more ways to earn a living gigging, says the firm.

It is also planning to launch new data-led products and services, as well as an app for artists.

Investors in the seed round include Chris Tottman of Notion Capital and Mark Bennett of Haatch. Angel investors and music industry experts Chris Meehan, Richard Flint, Wolfgang Alistat and Andrea Mihalovits are among a raft of individuals also backing the firm in its next phase of growth.

“We believe our mission to help every pub and bar maximise their potential with live music is more important than ever”

“With the hospitality sector facing unprecedented challenges, we believe our mission to help every pub and bar maximise their potential with live music is more important than ever,” says Michael Forster, chief executive of GigPig.

“Our platform has already helped hundreds of venues improve customer satisfaction, drive footfall and increase sales while giving thousands of artists an easier way to earn money gigging. We’re just getting started and the investment announced today will help bring the benefits of live music to more communities in towns and cities across the UK.”

Chris Tottman, a partner at Notion Capital, adds: “When we met Michael and Kit we were deeply inspired by GigPig’s mission, rooted in their combined 30-plus year industry experience of the grassroots and mainstream live music industries.

“We are invested in their vision to build an entirely new category that gives hospitality venues access to thousands of artists, with the ability to discover and book local talent at their fingertips.”

Mark Bennett, a partner at Haatch, comments: “GigPig is one of the most exciting start-ups in the UK right now, having developed a platform that connects venues and artists at unparalleled scale.

“While gigging in pubs and bars has long been the bedrock of the UK music scene, GigPig’s technology and industry expertise is set to drive explosive growth of live music in the hospitality sector.”

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Ticketing and event discovery platform Dice is stepping up its global expansion plans after raising a $65 million funding round led by music-focused investment company MUSIC.

MUSIC CEO Matt Pincus has also joined the Dice board of directors, while other investors include Structural Capital and Ahdritz Holding LLC, the investment vehicle for Kobalt Music founder and chair Willard Ahdritz, alongside follow on investments from Exor Ventures and Mirabaud Lifestyle Fund.

The funding will help accelerate Dice’s launch in new cities, as it continues to grow across the US and globally, with a new partnership announcement for Austin, Texas, imminent in the wake of a series of European deals. It will also support Dice’s ongoing product investments.

“The live music industry is adopting Dice faster than ever and proves our thesis that if you treat fans well, they buy more tickets, and go out more often,” says the company’s founder and CEO Phil Hutcheon. “We’re investing heavily in building even more technology and this year alone we released over 60 new features for fans, venues and artists. I’m excited that Matt has joined the board and we’re more focused than ever on our mission to get fans out more.”

In addition, Ali Byrd, most recently of AI healthcare technology company Olive, has been appointed as the firm’s chief financial officer. New York-based Byrd previously held senior positions at Microsoft, CoverWallet and Limewire.

“Dice did the impossible: They made buying a ticket fun. And by doing that, they became much more than a transaction provider,” says entrepreneur and investor Pincus. “Dice is the premier user-centric engagement platform for the most important consumers in music: people who love to go to shows.”

“Dice has come a long way on their vision, and today it’s even clearer that the live industry needs changing”

Launched in 2014, Dice reported the biggest year in its history last year, with more than 55,000 artists and 10,000 venues and promoters using the firm to sell tickets to their shows, but confirmed a number of redundancies earlier this summer as part of a restructure of the business.

“We recently made the difficult decision to restructure parts of our business to ensure we can focus on our most important initiatives,” said a spokesperson for Dice earlier this month. “This is not an exercise we carry out lightly and we’re sad that we have to say goodbye to colleagues that we love working with and respect enormously.”

The company, which launched in Scotland in April, already operates in markets including the UK, US, France, India, Italy, Spain and Germany.

“I met Phil [Hutcheon] in 2015 having heard about Dice,” says Ahdritz. “Rolling out AWAL at that time, I needed so many more venues for all my acts to play. Dice delivers a transformative experience for all stakeholders – from fans to venues to artists and looked like the future for live music. Dice has come a long way on their vision, and today it’s even clearer that the live industry needs changing. I am excited to have the opportunity to be part of the company as an investor.”

Kai Tse, structural capital co-founder and managing partner, adds: “Structural Capital is very excited to be involved in helping Dice continue its success and future growth. We believe Dice is a true industry innovator.”

This funding follows a string of strategic hires including the appointment of music industry veteran Caron Veazey to Dice’s board of directors, as well as former SVP of growth and marketing at HBO Max, Katie Soo, as chief business officer.

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Atwater Capital, a media and entertainment-focused investment firm, has drawn funding from investment behemoths Goldman Sachs Petershill and KKR.

According to the company, the funding will increase the total backing of Atwater’s new Atwater Capital Fund I, LP to over $100 million.

Atwater’s portfolio includes 88rising, a US-based artist management company, record label and media brand focused on Asian and Asian American artists that hosts the Head in the Clouds festival in Los Angeles and now, Jakarta, Indonesia.

The firm is also a backer of Swedish royalty-free soundtrack provider Epidemic Sound, and wiip Productions, the independent studio behind TV shows such as Mare of Easttown and The Summer I Turned Pretty, among others.

Atwater was founded in 2017 by Vania Schlogel, who sits on the board of Epidemic Sound as a director. She previously served as its chairwoman from 2017 to January of this year, when she was succeeded by former Shazam boss Andrew Fisher.

“It is a hugely exciting time to be investing in media and entertainment, an asset class which is acyclical and buoyed by both digitisation and significant growth in global demand,” says Schlogel.

“We view the commitments from these two blue-chip financial institutions as a strong confirmation of [our] long-term vision”

“We are delighted to be able to partner with Goldman Sachs Petershill, a recognised leader in sponsoring and supporting private equity firms globally, alongside the world-class team at KKR, as we launch our inaugural fund. We view the anchor commitments from these two blue-chip financial institutions as a strong confirmation of the long-term vision that we have for the Atwater platform.”

Schlogel served as a former member of KKR’s Private Equity team from 2009 to 2014, specialising in the media sector. She is also known as the former chief investment officer of Roc Nation, and the CIO of another then-Jay-Z-owned company, TIDAL.

“We are delighted to invest with Vania and her team as they identify and back a group of extraordinary media and entertainment entrepreneurs,” says KKR partners Philipp Freise and Ted Oberwager.

Alisa Amarosa Wood, partner at KKR, adds: “This is the continuation of the great relationship we have built over many years of collaboration with Vania – from her time at KKR and beyond. She shares our values, our partnership-oriented approach, and we are truly thrilled to be investing alongside her in this new endeavour.”

Christian von Schimmelmann, co-head of Goldman Sachs Petershill, adds: “We have a history of partnering with successful private equity firms globally and are excited to welcome Atwater as a natural addition to the Goldman Sachs Petershill family.”

“We look forward to providing strategic support as Atwater builds upon its history of investing in groundbreaking people and the companies they operate.”

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Live Nation has made a strategic investment in Turn Systems, which operates a leading reusable cup system.

The system, launched in Australia and New Zealand in 2012, includes reusable cups, collection bins and mobile washing systems powered by an incentive-based software offering.

According to the company, a single reusable Turn cup has the potential to displace up to 100 single-use cups and can break even on its environmental impact in as few as three uses.

Live Nation has already deployed the Turn System at several recent events, including Bonnaroo Festival in June where the programme was deemed “a huge success” after fans returned 88% of the cups.

The live entertainment giant will now begin rolling out Turn Systems across a number of festivals and venues this year, including major events such as Lollapalooza, Sea.Hear.Now, and Austin City Limits Festival, with the aim to displace more than 1 million single-use cups this year.

Michael Rapino, president and CEO, says: “By investing in Turn, Live Nation is able to make events at our venues and festivals more sustainable. By rolling out real-world solutions at scale we hope this helps the whole industry find solutions.”

“We will use our venues and festivals to demonstrate the effectiveness of large-scale reuse programmes”

According to a recent study by Live Nation, live music goers are eager to play a bigger role in protecting the environment with 82% saying they strive to maintain an environmentally sustainable lifestyle.

Lucy August-Perna, director of global sustainability, adds: “We know that live music goers are motivated to engage in sustainable practices at live events, and so we want to make sure we’re providing sustainable options for fans that are easily accessible and convenient to use. With our investment in Turn, we will use our venues and festivals to demonstrate the effectiveness of large-scale reuse programmes with the hopes of inspiring more rapid adoption of solutions that tackle the global waste and plastic pollution challenge.”

Ryan Everton, founder and CEO of Turn Systems, comments: “To mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis, we need to take meaningful steps to reduce carbon emissions, divert waste from landfills and oceans, and create circular economies at scale. We are thrilled to partner with Live Nation to move the needle forward in achieving these ambitions. By deploying Turn across Live Nation’s extensive reach, we hope to not only reduce the environmental impact of these events but also to inspire others to take climate action at their own events and in their daily lives.”

Live Nation’s pledge to eliminate single-use plastics from its own events is a key pillar in the company’s overall Green Nation global sustainability programme.

Also furthering this effort, the company’s partnership with Liquid Death canned water helped avoid the usage of over 5 million plastic bottles so far, according to Live Nation.

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EQT has become the latest private equity firm to enter the international touring business, following in the footsteps of companies like Silverlake, Yucaipa, Providence and Waterland.

The ‘purpose-driven global investment organisation’ today (19 July) announced that the EQT X fund has agreed to become a strategic investor in UTA.

Under the transaction, the UTA partnership and leadership continue to hold the controlling interest in the company, with EQT becoming the largest outside shareholder.

Investcorp, a global alternative investment firm that invested in UTA in 2018, will sell its full minority stake to EQT, and EQT will also purchase a portion of existing stakes from continuing shareholders including PSP Investments.

According to a release, EQT’s financial resources, expertise in capital markets, in-house digital team and global footprint will help fuel UTA’s next phase of investments in talent, innovation and international expansion.

Jeremy Zimmer, CEO of UTA, says: “EQT is the perfect partner for UTA’s next phase of growth. They have deep international capabilities, a strong balance sheet, and most importantly they truly appreciate and respect the culture that we have built at UTA.

“David Kramer and I led this process, and we made sure to listen to our instincts about who we felt would really help us drive growth while protecting our culture. We believe that we found the right partner to maintain that balance.”

“EQT is the perfect partner for UTA’s next phase of growth”

Kasper Knokgaard, EQT partner and global head of the services sector team, adds: “EQT invests in industry-leading platforms that are well situated for strong and sustained growth across economic cycles, are aligned with our values, and where we know we can create significant value –UTA checks all the boxes.

“We are excited to partner with Jeremy Zimmer and the entire team to accelerate UTA’s growth trajectory and enable more opportunities across entertainment and media.”

Dave Tayeh, head of private equity – North America at Investcorp, comments: “Our investment in UTA was highly successful and we are proud to have partnered with the UTA team as they achieved exceptional growth over the past four years. The company has strengthened its position as a market leader and we wish the team and EQT continued success.”

Martin Longchamps, MD at head of origination and execution at PSP Investments, says: “Since our original investment in 2018, PSP Investments and Investcorp have been working closely with Jeremy Zimmer and his management team to continue to strengthen UTA’s exceptional market position.

“During this time, UTA has proven its abilities to perform, innovate and diversify as a leading entertainment company. We are excited to continue this journey with UTA and to welcome EQT. Together, we will be a driving force in supporting UTA’s long-term growth.”

EQT has €77 billion in assets under management across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately €29 billion and more than 280,000 employees.

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Live audio tech service Mixhalo has raised US$24 million in a series-B funding round.

The funding, which follows a $10.7m series-A round in 2019, will primarily go towards new hires and research & development.

The San Francisco-based startup was founded in 2016 by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and violinist Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger with an initial goal to bring better sound quality to concerts.

Instead of hearing music blasted out of speakers, users can connect their smartphone to a network (the startup creates its own wireless channel that doesn’t rely on the venue’s potentially overloaded Wi-Fi or cell networks). Then, through their earbuds, they’ll hear the same sound mix that the musicians receive through their in-ear monitors.

The San Francisco-based startup was founded in 2016 with an initial goal to bring better sound quality to concerts

Clients and partners to date include Aerosmith, Charlie Puth, Incubus, Metallica, Sting, Staples Center (soon-to-be Crypto.com Arena), and multiple venues housing NBA and NHL teams.

Mixhalo’s latest funding round is led by Fortress Investment, the firm behind TSX Broadway, a Times Square-based retail complex that features an outdoor stage. Mixhalo’s technology will be integrated into the space’s venue.

Another new major investor is pro audio sound system manufacturer L-Acoustics, which will now be Mixhalo’s exclusive professional audio partner.

Mixhalo’s series A investors also contributed to the series-B round, including Foundry Group, Sapphire Sport, Founders Fund, Defy Partners, and Another Planet Entertainment.

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Moment House has received US$12 million in new funding from investors including UTA Ventures, the investment arm of United Talent Agency, artists Halsey and Kaytranada, and Max Cutler, founder of podcast studio Parcast and head of new content for Spotify.

The series-A funding round, led by venture-capital firm Forerunner Ventures, also includes design firm Ideo, actors Whitney Cummings and Tom Felton, artist manager William Robillard-Cole, and YouTuber and comedian Noel Miller.

LA-based Moment House, which powers ticketed livestreamed ‘Moments’ for leading musicians and entertainers, has processed more than million tickets across 168 countries since its launch in 2019. It has worked with artists including Tame Impala, KSI, Halsey, St Vincent, Kygo, Kaytranada, Brockhampton, Grouplove, Yungblud and Justin Bieber.

The new investors join existing backers including high-profile artist managers Troy Carter, Scooter Braun, Myles Shear (Kygo), Austin Rosen (Post Malone), as well as actor Jared Leto, UnitedMasters’ Steve Stoute, Patreon CEO Jack Conte and ex-TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer.

“This fundraising round allows us to execute on our ambitious product roadmap”

“We’re excited to welcome more top tech and entertainment leaders to Moment House as we continue empowering creators to deliver special live experiences to their worldwide communities digitally,” says Moment House co-founder and CEO Arjun Mehta.

“This fundraising round allows us to execute on our ambitious product roadmap, which involves deepening the consumer social experience, and on the supply side, opening up the platform so that any creator in the world can easily make a Moment.

“Everything we have done so far is just step one of a much bigger plan to help build the ‘metaverse’.”

Upcoming shows for Moment House, which recent made a string of senior hires, include Halsey, Tinashe, Michelle Branch, Louis the Child, the Tiny Meat Gang Podcast, the Small Town Murder podcast and more.

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Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund GIC has acquired a 5% stake in Eventbrite.

According to a recent filing with the US’s Securities and Exchange Commission, the self-service ticketing firm has sold 3,813,791 shares, or 5.05% of the its class-A common stock, to GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), which is wholly owned by the sate of Singapore.

GIC joined forces with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2017 to invest a combined US$1 billion in WME-IMG (now Endeavor), acquiring roughly 8% of the agency group’s shares, while another Singaporean government-owned fund, Temasek, owns a stake in CAA.

“As restrictions on in-person gatherings eased during Q2 2021, Eventbrite’s creators and their audiences re-emerged in force”

According to the filing, which is signed by GIC senior vice-presidents Celine Loh Sze Ling and Diane Liang, 3,738,791 of the shares acquired by GIC have sole voting power, while the remaining 75,000 have shared voting power with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Eventbrite’s share price fell slightly, to $17.69, on news of the transaction, on 13 August, though it remains up around $8 year on year.

Earlier in August, Eventbrite reported a second-quarter net loss of $20.54 million, narrowing from -$38.59 million in Q2 2020. While it continues to face a “significant impact” from the coronavirus pandemic, paid ticket volume is picking up, the company said in its most recent earnings statement. “As restrictions on in-person gatherings eased during the second quarter of 2021, Eventbrite’s creators and their audiences re-emerged in force,” according to Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz.

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