The Seat Unique team. Photo Credit: Seat Unique
London-headquartered “premium ticketing” platform Seat Unique has announced a nearly $9 million Series A and disclosed plans to “broaden its reach into new sectors and markets.”
Five-year-old Seat Unique detailed the £7 million (currently $8.93 million) raise today, in a formal release that was emailed to DMN. Having rolled out its marketplace towards 2020’s beginning, the company has according to higher-ups scored “partnerships with over 40 of the UK’s biggest venues, clubs and promoters” and sold north of £30 million ($38.45 million) worth of tickets thus far.
Said “direct from source” tickets do in fact afford customers access to “premium” experiences – albeit in exchange for premium prices, Seat Unique’s website indicates. For a cool £420 ($539) – £350 for the actual ticket with a £70 VAT – one can enjoy a fast-track entry into the VIP section of the Kaiser Chiefs’ Greenwich Summer Sounds show this July.
Also included are a pre-performance “champagne reception,” “3 course dining in the Painted Hall,” and a “complimentary bar,” the appropriate description displays. Similarly, those willing to part with £799/$1,025 (plus a VAT) per person can lock in a “private box” for eight to 12 attendees at Harry Styles’ forthcoming Wembley Stadium concerts.
Led by London’s Nickleby Capital (which per its website typically “invests £5m-£15m”), Seat Unique’s just-detailed raise likewise drew support from former Sky Bet CEO Richard Flint (who doubles as a board advisor) and Simon Murphy, the founder of Dublin’s TFO Group.
Besides the initially mentioned objective of tapping into additional sectors and markets, the ticketing service made clear an intention to “strengthen its partnerships with industry-leading event organisers and venues.”
Addressing the round and his company’s market headway in a statement, Seat Unique founder and CEO Robin Sherry, whose platform is said to attract “over 200,000 fans a month,” communicated in part: “From the beginning, Nickleby recognised the problem we were trying to solve, and believed in our ability to solve it.
“To close such a notable round of investment in the current climate demonstrates not only the opportunity ahead of us, but the progression we have made since we first launched our marketplace and the building blocks we created through 2020 to then seize the opportunity that came from Covid,” he finished.
Earlier this week, Robbie Williams became “the largest investor” in the UK’s Tickets for Good, which provides discounted and free tickets to NHS employees and has per execs secured about $625,000 in seed funding to date. Meanwhile, February saw live entertainment platform Fever unveil a $110 million raise, whereas Live Nation in April launched Vibee, a “music-led destination experience company.”
