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 streamlines the distribution, tracking, and analysis of live event tickets to maximise the return on investment for client engagement.
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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