Live Nation has continued to expand its presence in the festival sector through its $3.6m (€3.2m/£2.8m) investment in festival experience platform Everfest.
The series A round was co-led by Live Nation and ATX Seed Ventures, bringing the total investment in the company to more than $6m.
Other investors in the round included Red Frog Events, which runs Firefly Music Festival, Chip Conley the founder of Joi de Vivre Hotels and an executive at Airbnb, as well as Bob Kagle, a partner at Benchmark Capital.
The Everfest platform is used for fans to discover and receive recommendations for festivals that suit their tastes, factoring in location and musical genre.
Premium subscribers can receive exclusive experiences and discounts at the company’s 100-plus partner festivals. The platform also lists more than 15,000 festivals worldwide on its website.
The money raised in the funding round will go toward hiring across the organisation to scale the premium programme.
“We’re thrilled to have Live Nation and ATX on board,” says Everfest co-founder and chief executive Jay Manickam.
“These are the perfect partners for our space, and we truly have an opportunity to leave a lasting mark on the global festival industry.”
As a part of the agreement, the co-founder of C3 Presents, the service that runs Lollapalooza and ACL festivals, Charlie Walker will join Everfest’s board of directors, as will Chris Shonk of ATX.
Shonk said: “We love what Everfest is doing to give festivals a true online home. We see enormous potential to build efficiencies in connecting the entire festival network, such that the whole industry is driven forward.”
Live Nation has developed one of the largest and most diverse portfolios of festivals in the world with its 86 events including Download, Lollapalooza, Reading & Leeds, Way Out West, Rock Werchter, Splendour Festival Australia and US favourites Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits, Governor’s Ball.
Last year, Live Nation made eight major acquisitions, with deals so far in 2017 including BottleRock Napa Valley music and culinary festival, as well as live events operator CT Touring and promoter Cuffe & Taylor. Live Nation also launched a new Ticketmaster Israel division after acquiring a majority interest in Israeli promoter Bluestone entertainment.
Image: Everfest
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