Amsterdam-based ticketing platform Tiqets has picked up $17 million in funding and will use the cash to fulfil its  global ambitions.

Its CEO Luuc Elzinga says that the expansion is focused on adding inventory. “We have people whose only role is to talk to venues and bring their inventory to Tiqets. As a marketplace, we’re provide the tech which sits between the supply and demand. If we increase the supply, the demand will come as well.”

Tiqets is mainly a consumer-facing app which allows consumers to book and pay for admission tickets to major museums and attractions using their smartphone and then delivers a digital admission tickets to the device. Bookings can be made via desktop but users need a mobile to get and use the tickets.

The top five sellers on the platform indicates its current focus on mainstream tourist hotspots – the Louvre Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Empire State Building, the Colosseum and Sagrada Familia.

It launched four years ago as a B2B provider in December 2013. Elzinga explained that this proved difficult in the early days, “trying to aggregate museums and attractions for OTAs and airlines to sell.” It changed its focus to working directly with venues to sell tickets via smartphones, in real-time.

“A huge percentage of our bookings fall within the same-day window, and the only way to do this is to work directly with the venues. About half our staff are tech and product people who work with the venues’ tech  team to make sure that real-time delivery of digital tickets can happen.”

However, Elzinga noted that “the market focus on location-specific product, and how travellers, with smartphones, make decisions on the day” means that Tiqets is starting to think again its potential as a B2B provider of on-demand in location ticketing options for third parties.

“We currently have supply in 45 cities, which makes us more interesting to the big OTAs, and to hotels who are looking at providing guests with access to nearby attractions,” he said.

And while a lot of Tiqets’ business comes from international tourists, he also sees regional and local travellers as potential customers.

The $17 million round is led by HPE Growth Capital and comes just over a year after a $4 million Series A round led by Capital Mills.

Investment in PR startup PressPage

Public Relations startup PressPage has taken on an investment from Capital Mills, a Dutch venture fund. It will be used to professionalize the organization and accelerate growth.

The company offers PR and communications professionals a platform which supports them in their daily work. From the creation and maintenance of advanced newsrooms to distribution of news and the analysis of results. With the PressPage platform evolving at a fast pace, more and more PR activities are supported.

International growth

With offices in Chicago and Amsterdam, PressPage services over 300 customers worldwide. Notable brands include Mercedes-Benz, TransUnion, Hershey’s and T-Mobile. The fastest growing markets are the United States and Germany. “We see a growing number of companies actively looking for new solutions to support their PR activities”, says co-founder and CEO Sébastien Willems. “There is a lot of movement in the PR market, so this is a perfect time to expand our commercial team and accelerate our growth.”

Building a PR brand

PressPage will use part of the investment to build its own marketing and PR. Willems: “We help our customers with their campaigns on a daily basis, but we haven’t been spending enough time on our own communications strategy. That will completely change this year.” The company also sees opportunities to expand its platform, resulting in a larger target audience. The technical development will therefore be accelerated as well.

“From the beginning, Capital Mills has shown interest and commitment to work on the foundation of the company”, says Willems. “We are excited to work with them to enable future growth.”

Erwin van der Veen, partner at Capital Mills: “PressPage has developed a unique platform for the PR market with outstanding usability and more functionality than similar products. The company is now at a stage where it can start to scale up in the US and EU. We are going to help PressPage do exactly that”.

ABOUT PRESSPAGE

PressPage provides a SaaS PR platform with additional services for creation of advanced social newsrooms, virtual press centers and online media hubs. Its technology enables brands to publish and distribute rich content and provides direct insights into the results. PressPage empowers PR professionals by adding efficiency and effectiveness to their daily work routine.

ABOUT CAPITAL MILLS

Capital Mills is a Dutch venture capital firm that is focused on the long-term collaboration and active support of innovative companies in the Saas, Healthy Living and Leisure markets. Backed by a group of experienced entrepreneurs, Capital Mills prefers to participate on or from Series A round financing onwards.[:nl]Amsterdam, 17 januari 2017

PR startup PressPage haalt groeigeld op

Het Nederlandse PR-platform PressPage heeft groeigeld opgehaald bij het investeringsfonds Capital Mills. Daarmee wil het verder professionaliseren en een versnelling in de groei verwezenlijken.

De in Amsterdam gevestigde startup biedt PR- en communicatieprofessionals een platform dat hen in dagelijkse werkzaamheden ondersteunt. Van het maken en onderhouden van geavanceerde newsrooms tot het distribueren van nieuws en het analyseren van de resultaten. Door de snelle doorontwikkeling van het platform worden gebruikers bij steeds meer activiteiten geassisteerd.

Internationale groei

Vanuit Chicago en Amsterdam bedient PressPage meer dan 300 klanten, waaronder KLM, Booking.com, Mercedes-Benz, TransUnion, Hershey’s en T-Mobile. De Verenigde Staten en Duitsland zijn de snelste groeimarkten. “We zien een groeiend aantal bedrijven actief zoeken naar nieuwe manieren om hun PR-activiteiten te ondersteunen”, vertelt medeoprichter Sébastien Willems. “Zeker in de Verenigde Staten zit er veel beweging in de markt. Door te investeren in onze commerciële teams kunnen wij hier nog beter op inspringen en onze groei versnellen.”

Naam maken in PR

Naast uitbreiding van de internationale sales teams zal de investering gebruikt worden om het platform verder door te ontwikkelen om zo haar doelgroep te vergroten. Daarnaast zal PressPage zich nadrukkelijker presenteren als dé oplossing voor PR-afdelingen. “Wij helpen onze klanten dagelijks met hun campagnes, maar onze eigen communicatie staat nog in de kinderschoenen. Daar gaan we dit jaar verandering in brengen”, aldus Willems.

Willems: “In Capital Mills hebben wij een investeerder gevonden die op een gedegen manier met ons aan de fundering van het bedrijf wil werken om snellere ontwikkeling en groei mogelijk te maken.”

Erwin van der Veen, partner bij Capital Mills: “PressPage heeft een uniek platform voor het PR-domein ontwikkeld dat uitblinkt in gebruiksgemak en veel meer functionaliteit biedt dan soortgelijke producten. Ook internationale organisaties hebben dit opgemerkt, waardoor de onderneming in de Verenigde Staten vaste voet aan de grond heeft gekregen. De onderneming bevindt zich nu in de fase waarin ze zowel vanuit Nederland als de Verenigde Staten snel kan opschalen. Daar willen wij PressPage graag bij helpen. 

OVER PRESSPAGE

PressPage ontwikkelt een toonaangevend SaaS PR-platform met vele aanvullende services voor het opzetten van social media newsrooms, virtuele perscentra en media hubs. De technologie stelt bedrijven in staat om rijke content te presenteren en te distribueren om vervolgens direct inzicht in de resultaten te geven. Zo helpt PressPage PR-professionals hun dagelijkse werk effectiever en efficiënter uit te voeren.

OVER CAPITAL MILLS

Capital Mills is een Nederlandse investeringsmaatschappij die is gericht op lange termijn samenwerkingen en actieve steun voor innovatieve bedrijven in SaaS, Healthy Living en Leisure markten. Het bedrijf bestaat uit een groep ervaren ondernemers en geeft de voorkeur aan investeringsmogelijkheden in of net voor de “Series A ronde”.[:]