Those waiting for Eventbrite to go public will have to be patient. The online ticketing company recently raised $60 million to buy it more time.
The round was led by Tiger Global Management, and included a new investment partner, T. Rowe Price. It brings Eventbrite’s total investment to $140 million.
“We believe Eventbrite has a strong underlying financial model that will continue to scale, and its valuation will be well supported by traditional financial metrics in the future,” said Henry Ellenbogen, Portfolio Manager at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. “When we look at private companies, we look for companies that possess the capabilities and mindset to build a much larger and durable company. We believe that the Eventbrite team has the track record and skills to achieve that status.”
The funding will be used to further innovate the company’s platform, accelerate international growth, evolve its mobile capabilities, and hire personnel.
Though the company has long been eying an IPO, this latest investment means it can take its time.
“This gives us flexibility in setting the timeline for a later IPO, on our schedule,” co-founder and CEO Kevin Hartz told the Wall St. Journal. “An IPO is an inevitability, but the timing is (to be determined).”
People close to the deal said the company’s valuation was about $600 million to $700 million.
The talk of an IPO was more than just a rumor. Hartz told the Next Web in June that its next capital raising would be an IPO rather than another funding round. The company apparently changed its mind.
Eventbrite competes head to head with Ticketmaster, which is actually Live Nation Entertainment following its merger with Live Nation in 2010. Eventbrite has sold more than 100 million tickets and registrations, or more than $1.5 billion in gross ticket sales since its 2006 founding. A third of those sales have happened in the last nine months.
“Live experiences are the new luxury good — from large festivals and concerts to conferences and political rallies, people are increasingly looking to share live experiences with people of similar interests and passions,” said Kevin Hartz, CEO of Eventbrite. “We’re pleased to be able to work with existing as well as new investors who truly understand the opportunities that these kind of occasions represent, as well as the power of the platform we have built to make them happen.”