NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TodayTix, the mobile app that provides on-demand access to the best prices on last-minute theater tickets, today announced a $9 million Series B round of funding co-led by Walden Venture Capital and TYLT Ventures, with participation from existing investors and influential leaders in the theater and entertainment industry. The company also revealed the growth of its user base to more than one million users since launching in December 2013.
This investment will enable TodayTix to remain at the forefront of the theater ticketing industry by investing in product innovation, technology, geographic expansion and marketing.
TodayTix quadrupled its sales and user base from the same time last year and now sells an average of two tickets per minute worldwide, providing global users with a seamless, streamlined ticket buying experience across six markets: New York City, London, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Chicago. Ninety-one percent of TodayTix users report seeing more shows due to TodayTix, with over 45 percent of customers seeing at least three additional shows per year; additionally, 54 percent of transactions are made by repeat customers (December 2015).
“As theater lovers and producers, Brian and I experienced the frustrations of traditional methods of both buying tickets as consumers, and selling tickets for our shows,” said Merritt Baer, CEO and co-founder of TodayTix. “Simultaneously, we found ourselves in the midst of a mobile revolution where mobile apps became the go-to platform for virtually everything in consumers’ lives.”
“We realized that without a convenient mobile ticketing solution for theater, the form of entertainment we both grew up loving might not survive the on-demand generation,” added Brian Fenty, chairman and co-founder of TodayTix. “Today, we’re selling four percent of all Broadway tickets, bringing a new, millennial audience to theater that’s 12 years younger than the average theatergoer, and connecting the global theater community through TodayTix.”
In addition to Walden Venture Capital and TYLT Ventures, TodayTix’s Series B round was supported by influential leaders in the theater and entertainment industries including CEO of United Talent Agency Jeremy Zimmer and former CEO of BSkyB and NetJets Europe Mark Booth. Existing investors who also participated in the round include: Rubicon Venture Capital; SF Capital Group; Union Square Hospitality Group CEO Danny Meyer; New York Islanders Owner Jon Ledecky; Sweetgreen Co-founder Nicolas Jammet; and Twitter Senior Director of Corporate Development & Strategy Jessica Verrilli.
“The global theater market is a $50 billion dollar industry that’s been virtually untouched by technology or innovation, until TodayTix came along,” said Art Berliner, managing director of Walden Venture Capital. “We’ve seen how the TodayTix team has single-handedly broadened the appeal of theater to a younger audience that will grow with their business through its emphasis on mobile and social, and are excited to help facilitate the reinvigoration of such an iconic market sector with technology.”
Katherine Oliver, principal at Bloomberg Associates and former commissioner of NYC's Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, will join the TodayTix Advisory Board. Berliner joins the TodayTix Board of Directors, and TYLT Ventures Co-Founder and Managing Director Gerard Casale joins as a board observer.
About TodayTix
TodayTix is the first and only free mobile app for iOS and Android that provides access to the best prices on last minute theater tickets, booked same-day or within a week’s time. Operating in the world’s most iconic theater markets, TodayTix secures the best discounted and full price tickets available for the hottest shows in New York City, London’s West End, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Chicago.
Life-long friends and Broadway producers Merritt Baer and Brian Fenty launched TodayTix in New York City in December 2013. The company now has partnerships with more than 150 theater institutions globally including The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, Blue Man Group, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Metropolitan Opera, Nimax, Really Useful Theatres, Shaftesbury Theatre, SHN, San Francisco Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, ODC Dance Company, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theater Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Geffen Playhouse, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and LA Opera. To learn more, please visit www.todaytix.com or download TodayTix for iOS, Android and Amazon devices.
