Festicket receives $4.6m funding from Edge Investments

UK-based festival travel portal Festicket has secured a funding round of US$4.6 million from creative industries investment specialist, Edge Investments.

The investment from venture-capital firm Edge brings the total raised by the festival and travel company to nearly $30 million, following a series-D funding round led by venture-capital firm Beringea in December and investments from merchant bank Lepe Partners and multiple venture-capital firms.

The injection of funds has enabled Festicket to expand globally. The company, which partners with festivals to provide travel packages for festivalgoers, works with more than 2.5 million customers and 1,200 festivals across 50 countries worldwide.

Festicket now has offices in San Francisco, Amsterdam, Berlin and Porto, in addition to its London headquarters.

With Edge’s investment, Festicket hopes to expand into new North American and Asian markets, as well as further developing its technology platform. Additional plans include the building of an exclusive membership tier with added benefits for its users.

“We are excited to partner with such a fast-growing company,” says Edge investment director David Fisher, who led the investment with Festicket.

“Festicket solves an everyday millennial pain-point by streamlining, personalising and curating live experiences”

“The experience, events and festival markets continue to grow exponentially and Festicket is strategically positioned to benefit from these combined trends as a horizontally integrated platform,” says Fisher.

Festicket founder and chief executive Zack Sabban says that the investment comes “at a really important time for Festicket”, commenting that Edge “feels like the perfect match” for his company.

“Edge has a unique network and wide music industry knowledge, as well as an excellent understanding of our approach to content and community – a crucial ingredient in our growth recipe,” says Sabban.

Edge’s team of music industry specialists includes music impresario Harvey Goldsmith and former music industry lawyer David Glick.

Edge chief executive Glick comments on Festicket’s “talented and committed management team,” led by co-founders Sabban and Jonathan Younes and joined by recent hires from companies such as Live Nation, Eventbrite and Channel 4.

“[Sabban and Younes] know why they are building Festicket into a huge business, solving an everyday millennial pain-point by streamlining, personalising and curating thousands of live experiences for millions of customers,” says Glick.

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