Gametime, a platform for last minute game, concert and show tickets, has secured $30m (£25m/€28) in new funding.
The round was led by Nimble Partners including the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s Golden State Warriors owner John Burbank, with additional investment by Maven Ventures, Accel, GV, San Francisco Giants principal partner and Vancouver Whitecaps chairman and co-owner Jeff Mallett, Palapa Ventures, Bolt Ventures (David Blitzer, owner of NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils), Tenere Capital, Blitzscaling Ventures, Next Play Capital, Alumni Ventures, University Growth Fund and others.
Gametime will use the investment to accelerate product development and expand efforts to reach younger ticket-buyers. Gametime will also further enhance its platform to make it faster and easier to use.
Along with the funding announcement, Gametime revealed it had sold over $1bn worth of tickets to date. The company’s 10 highest sales days, since it launched in 2013, have occurred in 2022 and Gametime has projected that sales will exceed $500m this year.
“We’re in a golden age of live entertainment as pent-up demand from the pandemic is fueling record growth for attendance at sporting events, concerts and shows,” said Brad Griffith, chief executive of Gametime.
“This investment means Gametime can rapidly accelerate our product development and can continue to help teams, leagues and artists rebound from a challenging few years. On the fan side, it’s one of the most important times in history to make it easier for people to connect with friends, families and communities.”
Mallet, one of the investors involved in the funding round, added: “Gametime makes it extraordinarily fast and easy to connect fans with events. Team owners see opportunities to expand the market and future proof the industry with Gametime’s younger audience as season ticket holders age.
“With ticket sales closer to the start of the game or concert skyrocketing in popularity, Gametime has defined the last minute category and is the brand of choice for answering the questions: what’s up tonight?”