Audio ticketer Lisnr welcomes new investment

Lisnr, the Cincinnati start-up whose audio technology is being utilised for Ticketmaster Presence, has secured new strategic investment from consumer financial services firm Synchrony Financial.

The investment is part of a larger, undisclosed round that also includes participation from investment firms Mercury Fund, Jump Capital, NGMP and Danmar Capital.

Lisnr is the creator of an ‘ultrasonic communication protocol’ used to send data via sound. Its Smart Tone tickets are sent via email as a web link, which, when activated, generates an inaudible (18.75kHz–19.2kHz) tone decoded by door staff using an app. It was chosen by Ticketmaster in July for a new service, Ticketmaster Presence, set to be rolled out at select venues worldwide.

“Sound technology is revolutionising the payment space”

The latest round of investment adds to the more than US$14m in funding the company has raised since March 2012.

“Sound technology is revolutionising the payment space, helping with effortless transactions without internet connections,” says Neeraj Mehta (pictured), ‎executive vice-president of business strategy and development at Synchrony. “Lisnr continues to deliver new ways to use data-over-audio to support payments and other financial services use cases, and we’re excited to explore this technology with them.”

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