With the global live concert industry booming, Festicket’s latest fundraising round will help the platform pursue an aggressive expansion plan.
Festicket has announced a new fundraising milestone.
The UK online booking platform has just secured $10.5 million in Series D funding. Transatlantic venture capital firm Beringea led the fundraising round. Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital fund InMotion Ventures, Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund, Lepe Partners, U-Start, and Eelko Van Kooten, former CEO of Spinnin’ Records, also joined in.
Following the fundraising round, Eyal Malinger, Berinea’s Investment Director, will join the Festicket board. Ben Leaver, Treatwell’s Chief Operating Officer, will also join. Festicket confirmed it will appoint an independent non-executive Chairman in the near future.
Most recently, the online booking platform has focused on expansion into the North American and Asian markets. Two months ago, the company poached Lauren Pye, Live Nation’s former Vice President of Sales, to head up its San Francisco office. She previously served at eBay and StyleSeat.
Zack Sabban, Festicket’s Co-Founder and CEO, confirmed the company will accelerate the international expansion of its business model.
With the funding, Festicket will continue building its discovery and community network through new marketing channels. This includes a content and media partnership with Channel 4. Festicket will also invest in improving the customer experience through product and R&D innovation.
Prior to this fundraising round, the company had raised $13.7 million from multiple investors. These included Lepe Partners, PROfounders, U-Start, Playfair, Wellington, and Windcrest. The online booking platform has added Arthur Kosten, Booking.com cofounder and former Chief Marketing Officer, as an investor/advisor. Jean-Charles Carré, DJ David Guetta’s manager, had joined as an investor.
Speaking on the investment, Eyal Malinger explained,
“With millions of monthly visitors to its website, we felt that Festicket is uniquely positioned to help festivals around the world grow and attract new customers.”
Vinay Solanki, Head of the Commercial Growth Fund, added,
“Channel 4 has innovation, music, and young audiences in our DNA so we are delighted to become part of Festicket’s journey. Festicket is already a very high growth company and has very attractive further growth potential with the benefit of Channel 4’s comprehensive national reach.”