Fever raises $227m in round led by Goldman Sachs ahead of possible IPO
Ticketing platform Fever reportedly raised $227m (£168m) in a Goldman Sachs led funding round signalling live events are making a comeback.
Fever’s chief executive officer Ignacio Bachiller Strohlein told Bloomberg the startup is now valued at “just over a billion dollars” providing a “very clear path” toward an initial public offering.
“The demand for live experiences is higher than ever, despite the pandemic,” Strohlein said in an interview.
The global events platform sells tickets to “immersive” digital Van Gogh, Frida Khalo and Klimt exhibitions in London, and organises a Bridgerton themed ball in Los Angeles, tickets for which are exclusive to the startup’s customers.
The bumper funding round, which also saw participation from Alignment Growth, Goodwater and Smash Capital alongside Goldman Sachs, signals that investment is flowing back into the live events industry following a tough few years under the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the 12 months to September 2021, the UK events industry lost £57bn of its £70bn pre-pandemic value with a 95 per cent drop in events and 126,000 job cuts amid Covid-19 restrictions according to data from the Business Visits and Events Partnership.
Fever’s biggest single market is the US and it’s active in about 60 cities around the world, including Paris, Madrid and New York, the company said today.
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