Mobile ticketing platform Dice has raised $6m in Series A funding in a financing round led by Evolution Equity Partners.
The round also featured contributions from existing investors, White Star Capital, Designer Fund, Kima Ventures and new investor Lumia Capital. Total funding has now reached $10 million since launch.
The funding will help fuel Dice’s expansion in Europe and North America and continued development of the company’s technology platform.
Since launching in September 2014, Dice has expanded its platform throughout the UK, offering fans tickets gigs, clubs and festivals with no booking fees. It won Best Ticket Company at the 2016 Music Week Awards and was included in Apple’s App Store Apps of the Year in 2015.
Tickets are purchased within the app and exist on the user’s smartphone. Each listing displays a selection of recommended shows at the bottom of the event description, generated by a mix of algorithms and human-powered curation.
All tickets sold are sourced directly from artists, promoters and venues, with over 700 artists having sold their tickets on the platform, including Taylor Swift, Disclosure, Jamie XX, George Ezra, Skepta, Jack White, Four Tet, Justin Bieber, Alabama Shakes and Years & Years.
“We see Dice as a transformational platform that utilizes the power of big data, machine learning and mobile to improve user experience for live music discovery and ticket purchasing and Dice is a disruptive force from a business model perspective,” said JR Smith, partner at Evolution Equity Partners. “Evolution Equity Partners are extremely excited to back them.”
“Dice is a long-term focused business and we’re solving hard problems around ticketing,” added Phil Hutcheon, founder and CEO of Dice. “We’re removing the barriers for real fans who are fed up of high ticket fees and limited access to primary tickets. With Dice, we’ve built a platform where discovering new artists is easy since both our human curation and algorithms surface those most relevant to you. Dice is obsessed with design, simplicity, transparency and innovation.”
