Investment firm Sixth Street, via its Sixth Street Growth platform, has made a USD $130 million equity investment in atVenu, a California and Canada-based live event commerce and music merch sales platform.
atVenu’s software is used to manage payments, logistics and inventory for merch, food and beverage at concerts, festivals and sporting events.
Founded in 2012, atVenu says that it provides its purpose-built live event platform to “the world’s largest touring artists, merchandisers, record labels, venue operators, festival promoters, and food & beverage concessionaires”.
Ed Sheeran was reportedly one of the first artists to use the software developed by atVenu, which now also counts Coachella and RedRocks as clients.
The company claims to have established itself as “the leader in the music merchandise space” and says it processes over $1.6 billion in merch and food and beverage sales annually.
The company’s software is used at over 125,000 events each year, ranging from small clubs and mid-size amphitheaters to stadiums, venues, festivals, and sporting events globally.
Ben Brannen, atVenu’s Co-Founder and President is a music industry veteran with over 20 years’ experience across publishing, an indie label, and artist management.
Brannen confirmed the investment in a LinkedIn post today (October 9). He wrote: “atVenu raised $130 million in equity from Sixth Street Growth. I’m still wrapping my head around that. It doesn’t feel that long ago I was touring in a van and trailer selling merch. It doesn’t feel that long ago I wanted to make that easier.”
Sixth Street Growth is described as the dedicated growth investing platform of investment company Sixth Street, which has over $80 billion in “assets under management and committed capital”.
Sixth Street reports to have invested over $10 billion in more than 70 companies through its Growth franchise since inception.
atVenu’s new backer has previously made investments in the likes of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, San Antonio Spurs and Bay FC.
In 2017, Sixth Street provided a revolving credit financing to iHeartRadio.
Michael McGinn, Partner at Sixth Street and Co-Head of Sixth Street Growth, noted today that the investment in atVenu “reflects Sixth Street’s continued conviction in and commitment to the live events ecosystem”.
Sixth Street’s financial partnership with atVenu also arrives amid the wider investment world’s continued interest in the booming live events space.
A recent example came in June, when KKR acquired European live music giant Superstruct in a $1.4 billion deal, while Blackstone acquired a minority stake in Ambassador Theatre Group, which operates historic venues in London and New York.
In July, Bloomberg reported that London-based ticketing platform DICE was advanced talks to sell a significant stake in the company, potentially valuing it at “hundreds of millions of dollars.” DICE has already raised more than $200 million in funding, including a $65 million round led by MUSIC, the investment company co-founded by Matt Pincus and LionTreein August 2023.
Elsewhere, as we noted last month, two of Live Nation‘s major shareholders are the Vanguard Group and Investment firm BlackRock.
“The firm’s vision and conviction on the growth opportunities in live events entirely aligns with ours.”
Ben Brannen, atVenu
“We’re thrilled to partner with Sixth Street for atVenu’s next chapter,” said Ben Brannen, atVenu Co-Founder and President.
“The firm’s vision and conviction on the growth opportunities in live events entirely aligns with ours. The opportunity to join forces with their team and deploy our combined resources to expand atVenu’s reach is incredibly exciting.”
“Sixth Street clearly shares this mission and clarity of purpose and will add tremendous value as our impact on this industry continues to accelerate.”
Derek Ball, atVenu
Derek Ball, atVenu Co-Founder and CEO, added: “Over the past decade, atVenu has been intensely focused on helping our customers execute successful and profitable events.
“Sixth Street clearly shares this mission and clarity of purpose and will add tremendous value as our impact on this industry continues to accelerate.”
“This investment reflects Sixth Street’s continued conviction in and commitment to the live events ecosystem.”
Michael McGinn, Sixth Street
Michael McGinn, Partner at Sixth Street and Co-Head of Sixth Street Growth, said: “Ben, Derek, and James have built a world-class platform and organization with unrivaled dedication to their customers, and we’re thrilled to support them in continuing to build the market leader in live event commerce.”
“atVenu’s innovative solutions, inspired by the founders’ deep roots and firsthand experience in the live events world, empower stakeholders across the value chain.”
Michael Bauer, Sixth Street Growth
Michael Bauer, Principal at Sixth Street Growth added: “atVenu’s innovative solutions, inspired by the founders’ deep roots and firsthand experience in the live events world, empower stakeholders across the value chain.
“We are confident that atVenu is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the exciting opportunity set ahead and we look forward to supporting them on that journey.”Music Business Worldwide