ScoreBig, the upstart set-your-price Web site for ticket deals, announced this week that it had secured $14 million in venture funding, bringing its total raised in the six months since its launch to more than $22 million.
The exact use of the financing was not disclosed, but the company has made no secret of its desire for more growth, which will include attracting more partners looking to move unsold ticket inventory. Currently, the site lists more than 630,000 available tickets for thousands of events.
“This round of funding will contribute to building all aspects of ScoreBig’s business,” CEO Adam Kanner told TicketNews, adding that the company’s staff has grown 30 percent in the past year.
Company officials do not name its ticket partners, but it works with sports teams, venues, promoters and even ticket brokers who have unsold tickets. The inventory is listed on ScoreBig’s free, members-only site where people can set their own price for the tickets, and the original provider can accept or reject that bid. The buyer never learns the identity of the ticket provider, which ScoreBig guards to help preserve the provider’s brand, but once a bid is accepted there are no additional fees. ScoreBig and the ticket provider split the revenue from the sale.
The company has not released the number of members, which can only join the site by invitation. Some members have seen savings of 70 percent off face value for some tickets.
A key element to the company’s growth is signing partnership deals with ticket brokers, according to Kanner, who are embracing the opportunity to be able to unload otherwise hard to sell tickets.
“In addition to working with the owners of unsold inventory, we work aggressively with brokers and all elements of the ticketing market including primary ticketing companies looking to provide value add opportunities for their clients,” Kanner said.
The $14 million round of financing was led by U.S. Venture Partners, and Bain Capital Ventures also provided some funding. Past financing partners include Finn Wentworth, former president of YankeesNets and Shari Redstone, vice chairman of Viacom.
“ScoreBig has finally done for the live entertainment industry what others have done for the travel and retail industries – create a channel to move inventory at a discount without cannibalizing full price sales or damaging brands,” Rick Lewis, a partner at U.S. Venture Partners, said in a statement. “ScoreBig has proven itself to be a category-defining company with a model that for the first time, works collaboratively with the industry to safely and dynamically sell tickets below retail price, while also serving to increase the affordability of attending live events for fans.”
