SeatGeek upped its stature in the ticketing industry on Tuesday with a $57 million investment and acquisition of Israeli startup TopTix. The Series D investment, led by Glynn Capital, enabled SeatGeek to acquire TopTix, which powers ticketing technology for 500 clients in 16 countries and processes 80 million tickets per year. The deal will help SeatGeek expand SeatGeek Open, its primary ticketing platform that is taking on Ticketmaster. SeatGeek Open lets artists and teams sell tickets directly within other apps and websites, versus a closed system that restricts how people buy and transfer tickets. “TopTix has by far the best backend primary ticketing… Read More
Golden State Warriors fans now have a new tech-powered assistant at their disposal during the NBA Playoffs. The Bay Area-based NBA team rolled out a new Facebook Messenger bot today that will give fans — both those watching at home and at the arena — a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence. The bot, built by Chatfuel, will engage with fans on a 1-on-1 basis within Facebook Messenger and provide live news updates, highlights, player stats, and help purchasing tickets or merchandise. For fans at Oracle Arena watching the top-seeded Warriors, who are facing off against the Portland Trail Blazers in the… Read More
Vicis continues to raise more cash as the Seattle startup revs up production of its high-tech football helmet. The company announced today that it has reeled in an additional $1.2 million as part of a convertible note. It previously raised $4 million as part of the same note in January. Total funding for the 4-year-old company is now nearly $30 million; investors range from former NFL players and top biotech veterans, among others. As GeekWire reported earlier this month, Vicis is preparing to equip NFL and NCAA football teams with its $1,500 ZERO1 helmet this fall. The helmet features a unique outer shell material designed to mitigate… Read More
Netflix missed slightly on subscriber estimates for its first quarter earnings report as the streaming giant saw shares initially dip but then rise more than 1 percent in after-hours trading on Monday. Netflix added another 3.53 million subscribers internationally last quarter, along with 1.42 million in the U.S. Analysts expected 3.71 million net additions internationally and an additional 1.56 million customers in the U.S. Netflix now has 98.75 million subscribers, up from 81.5 million last year. The company also posted $2.64 billion in revenue — which met estimates and is up 34 percent from last year — and diluted earnings per share of $0.40, which beat estimates and… Read More
Today is the deadline for groups to turn in applications to renovate Key Arena at Seattle Center, possibly for the return of an NBA and/or NHL franchise, and two groups have come forward with details of their bids. The two are AEG and Oak View Group (OVG), which is led by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke. Both groups bring with them plenty of arena and team ownership credentials, and both are looking to preserve Key Arena’s iconic roof. The arena was built for the 1962 World’s Fair and received an extensive renovation in the 1990s. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray had previously said the city was not interested… Read More
