AudienceView acquires Vendini
Ecommerce company AudienceView, which provides event management and marketing tools to more than 2,000 venues, sports teams and other organisations globally, has acquired ticketing platform Vendini for an undisclosed sum.
Together, Toronto-based AudienceView and San Francisco’s Vendini, an all-in-one ticketing and box-office management platform, currently process US$3 billion worth of ticketing and fundraising transactions globally, and sell more than 100m tickets on behalf of some 8,000 venues. Combining the two enables AudienceView “to expand offerings in key markets through a powerful range of software, services and audience-development solutions”, according to a AudienceView statement.
“With AudienceView, OvationTix, TheaterMania and WhatsOnStage, we have been able to help live events organisations successfully achieve their individual missions and business goals by increasing revenue, enabling efficiencies, engaging audiences and attracting new attendees for our customers,” says Mark Fowlie, CEO of AudienceView. “Vendini has successfully built a similarly unique value proposition.
“Our ability to bring these innovative solutions together will provide a significant boost in value through incremental offerings for providers of all types of live entertainment.”
“I’m thrilled this combination will allow us to continue to grow in our key markets, provide additional strategic support to existing clients and ensure their success over the long term,” adds Mark Tacchi, founder and CEO of Vendini. “The opportunity was too unique and powerful to pass up.”
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AudienceView acquires TheaterMania, OvationTix
AudienceView, a developer of ticketing and ecommerce software for venues and live events, today announced the acquisition of TheaterMania.com, Inc., including both its TheaterMania and WhatsOnStage brands – which list tickets to stage shows on Broadway and in London’s West End, respectively – and its OvationTix cloud-based ticketing solution.
The acquisition extends AudienceView’s reach to more than 2,000 arts, culture, sporting and live events globally, says the Toronto-based company, “from the largest entertainment groups in the world to single weekend festival events”.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“AudienceView and TheaterMania have long shared a common vision and passion to help entertainment organisations build devoted communities and fulfil their missions,” comments Gretchen Shugart (pictured), formerly CEO of TheaterMania and now president of arts and culture at AudienceView.
“We are truly thrilled to be aligned with an organisation that understands the industry and has aggressive plans to invest in our products and offerings”
“We are truly thrilled to be aligned with an organisation that understands the industry that we serve and has aggressive plans to invest in our products and offerings to drive even more success for our clients.”
Mark Fowlie, CEO of AudienceView, adds: “Whether a venue has an audience of 99 or over 100,000, AudienceView is now the most compelling choice for organisations that want to grow their communities through innovative technology, strategic distribution strategies and a team of experts dedicated to creating and supporting customer success every single day.”
AudienceView in April appointed Michael Burnett, formerly of See Tickets and Live Nation/Ticketmaster, to head up its UK-based European operation.
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Ex-LN sports chief Burnett named AudienceView MD
AudienceView, a Canada-based developer of ecommerce software for venues and live events, has appointed Michael Burnett as managing director for the UK and Europe.
Burnett (pictured) – a founder and former managing director of See Tickets, and most recently director of sport at Live Nation/Ticketmaster – will lead “all aspects of AudienceView’s business operations in the UK and Europe, including current customer success, new customer acquisitions, local partner enablement and overall business success”, says the Toronto-headquartered company.
He heads up a team of 16 AudienceView staff in Britain and continental Europe.
“We are delighted to welcome an executive of Michael’s calibre to our leadership team,” says AudienceView COO Michael Bryce. “In addition to his expert understanding of ticketing and technology, Michael has the industry credibility to lead our company efforts and build on our continued momentum in the UK and Europe.
“With the industry’s strongest and most innovative solution, AudienceView has an incredibly exciting opportunity to grow in the region”
“With Michael as a senior executive based permanently in the UK, we have the right leadership in place to help our clients maximise their potential with our solutions and pursue the significant growth opportunities we see in the market.”
According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2016, AudienceView’s clients, which include more than 550 venues in 15 countries, “put the inventory of their events into AudienceView’s platform, where tickets are sold [alongside] extras like merchandise and parking. Customer data is collected and can then be used by clients for marketing purposes in the future.” Bryce described the company as being founded “on a notion that the ticket shouldn’t be at the centre of the solution or the business process; the customer or consumer should be.”
Commenting on his appointment, Burnett says: “With the industry’s strongest and most innovative solution, AudienceView has an incredibly exciting opportunity to grow in the region and to shape the future of entertainment ticketing and ecommerce. I am excited to help establish deeper relationships with our existing clients, welcome new organisations to the AudienceView family and help all of our partners reach their business goals.”
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