Yahoo Finance iPhone inventor and Softbank back $122m funding round for concert tickets app Dice
Tony Fadell, the engineer credited with inventing the Apple Ipod, iPhone and Nest, has joined the board of mobile ticketing app Dice.
His appointment came as the London-based start-up — founded by music exec Phil Hutcheon in 2014 — announced it had raised $122 million in a funding round led by Softbank’s Vision Fund 2.
The app is designed to make buying tickets for events and concerts, such Dua Lipa’s latest tour, hassle-free and to protect fans from price gouging.
Fadell, whose Future Shape fund invests in companies who work 'to leave the world in a better shape for his kids', said: “The concert business is a tangled mess of archaic tools and taxing industry standards where artists are paid last.
“Fans have to hunt for shows and regularly buy overpriced tickets from secondary markets or scalpers. This doesn’t make sense.”
Hutcheon said: “We’re overhauling an unfair, inefficient system with a transparent, data-led, fan-first approach that helps artists, promoters and venues thrive. To have SoftBank as a partner enables us to expand into every market.”
Dice intends to invest in growing the company, expanding its reach to artists fans and venues, upping headcount and adding to its live stream offering.
With the company's current rate of growth, it expects 49,000 artists and creators to use the platform by the end of 2022.
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