Patron Technology Established as Parent Company of PatronManager, ShowClix; Announces First Acquisition of Ticketleap

Patron Technology Established as Parent Company of PatronManager, ShowClix
Announces First Acquisition of Ticketleap
Sponsored by Providence Strategic Growth, Platform Well-Positioned for Continued Success and Expansion

September 18, 2017 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Patron Technology, formerly the name of the producer of PatronManager, has been established as a new parent company for the brands of PatronManager, the fastest growing ticketing and CRM platform for arts & culture organizations in the U.S., and ShowClix, the leading cloud-based provider of full-service event ticketing. With the combined knowledge, tools, and passion of premier event ticketing and technology companies, Patron Technology enables its customers to create deeper and more profitable relationships with their ticket buyers, fans, and supporters.

Patron Technology will be led by CEO Eugene Carr and CFO Anupam Palit, both of whom will retain their identical titles at PatronManager. Brian Arnone will serve as CRO of Patron Technology and retain his title of President & COO of ShowClix. Patron Technology is a portfolio company of Providence Strategic Growth (“PSG”), the growth equity affiliate of Providence Equity, a global private equity firm with more than $50 billion in assets under management.

Additionally, Patron Technology has announced its first acquisition in Ticketleap, a leading self-service ticketing platform. Ticketleap will operate independently under Patron Technology and will be led by General Manager Chrisse Dragon.

“Patron Technology drives momentum across the digital ticketing industry,” said Mr. Carr. “The approach of aligning complementary platforms provides each company the ability to focus on growth within each of their key industry segments while continuing to foster their clients’ development of stronger relationships with their patrons. We are excited about our new structure, our new partners, and our unwavering support from Providence, and believe that all of these elements will only accelerate our success.”

“Patron Technology serves as the ideal platform for Ticketleap to accelerate its position in the marketplace and continue to build on its strong customer relationships,” said Ms. Dragon. “We look forward to our continued growth in the DIY ticketing business and pursuing this unique opportunity to work alongside leading companies such as ShowClix and PatronManager.”

"Patron Technology's product suite empowers venues and event organizers to manage experiences across various customer interactions, including ticketing, CRM, social media engagement, and in-event experience itself,” said Gopi Vaddi, Managing Director at Providence Strategic Growth. “We will continue to actively engage with Patron Technology's leadership team to drive and capitalize on the significant disruption within the various sectors of this market."

Mr. Arnone added, “Patron Technology’s curated approach supports the key target verticals for each organization within our new structure. This dynamic translates directly to increased sales on all ticketing platforms, putting us in a leading position across the entire industry.”

About Patron Technology (www.patrontechnology.com)

Patron Technology provides innovative and industry-leading technology that enables its customers to create deeper and more profitable relationships with their ticket buyers, fans, and supporters. Under the investment umbrella of PSG, Patron Technology is actively engaged in building out a broader platform that addresses other sectors of the broader ticketing & CRM market in the U.S. and abroad.

About Ticketleap (www.ticketleap.com)

Ticketleap is an online DIY ticket sales and event marking company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company has a strongly held belief that companies and teams that really "get social" are those that make it a point to build relationships the old fashioned way: in person. One of the best ways to do that is through events. For over 10 years the company has helped event creators sell over 30 million tickets to various events by providing DIY box office solutions to customers across the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

About PatronManager (www.patronmanager.com)

PatronManager’s mission is to revolutionize the ticketing industry by providing arts, culture, and live entertainment organizations with integrated world-class customer relationship management, box office ticketing, fundraising, and marketing solutions. Patron’s founder and CEO is Eugene Carr, a cellist who trained professionally at the Oberlin Conservatory and The Juilliard School, and subsequently served as the Executive Director of the American Symphony Orchestra and in management positions at American Express. Mr. Carr is an entrepreneur whose first technology company was the groundbreaking national arts listing and ticketing site Culturefinder.com, backed by AOL and Comcast. Today, the PatronManager solution is an integrated box office, ticketing, marketing, and development system built entirely on the world’s most advanced cloud-based CRM platform – Salesforce.com. PatronManager is used by over 700 organizations in the U.S. and Canada, including symphony orchestras, theatres, opera companies, dance companies, university performing arts centers, and museums.

About ShowClix (www.showclix.com)

ShowClix, Inc. provides full-service event ticketing and access control solutions to professional event organizers around the world. Founded in 2007, ShowClix is dedicated to enhancing its cloud-based software with dedicated account managers, an in-house call center, and experienced on-site teams. The platform, which can be tailored for any event, aims to help professionals sell more tickets and create memorable experiences for their customers. For more information on ShowClix, visit showclix.com/ticketing.

About Providence Strategic Growth (www.provequity.com/private-equity/psg)

Providence Strategic Growth Capital Partners L.L.C. (“PSG”) is an affiliate of Providence Equity Partners L.L.C (“Providence”). Established in 2014, PSG focuses on growth equity investments in lower middle market software and technology-enabled service companies, primarily in North America. Providence is a premier, global asset management firm with $50 billion in capital under management across complementary private equity and credit businesses. For more information on PSG, visit provequity.com/private-equity/psg and for more information on Providence Equity, please visit provequity.com.



9/18: Fidelity robo with eMoney now available; NewSpring backs more local growth companies




 Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Philadelphia Tech News by Email






Fidelity robo now available to platform users (Investment News)
The AMP digital offering integrates with eMoney tools.

NewSpring backs more local growth companies (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Infosys steps up US hiring as more top talent flees (ZDNet)



Roku aims to raise $252 million with IPO
(CNBC)

If Disney Builds a Streaming Service, Will They Come? (Knowledge@Wharton)


TECH TRADER DAILY Universal Display: Blue Is the Color of Game Change, Says Goldman
"Universal Display, which supplies technology for so-called OLED screens on smartphones, seems to be getting closer to commercial availability for its technology for the blue color, says Brian Lee of Goldman Sachs, which could be a "game changer" for Universal, prompting Lee to raise his price target on the stock to $161."



SoFi says still moving ahead in Delaware (Update 10/5)

Tom Paine




 Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Philadelphia Tech News by Email







With the recent news out of online lender SoFi ( SoFi Board Says C.E.O. Is Out Immediately Amid Sexual Harassment Scandal), reports have raised questions not only concerning executives' personal behavior, but some of SoFi's business practices as well. Although SoFi is privately held, the information it has released about its finances suggests its performing well to date.

SoFi, founded in 2011, is valued at more than $4 billion and has raised $1.9 billion from venture investors, including Baseline Ventures, Discovery Capital and SoftBank.

But what about its plans for Delaware? SoFi closed Zenbanx, the Claymont-based online banking provider founded by ING Direct USA founder Arkadi Kuhlmann, in August after acquiring it in February for about $100 million. Zenbanx had a partnership with Wilmington Savings Fund Society (WSFS) that expired in July and, rather than renew it or find another partner, the company decided to just close existing accounts. SoFi has applied for its own banking charter, which is still pending. In June, SoFi said it would add 400 workers in Claymont by the end of 2018.

Jim Prosser, SoFi VP of Communications and Policy, told me by email that its expansion plans for Delaware haven't changed.

"We wound down the Zenbanx product, but retained most of the staff and are building on top of their technology to bring our banking products to market. Our plans for Delaware remain exactly the same as we said in July, and we're actively hiring. You can check out the open roles here: https://www.sofi.com/careers/. (Note that each role may have multiple openings. We're hiring way more than one customer service rep, for instance!)"

Update 9/25:

Update 10/5:
Reuters: SoFi's CEO hiatus stalls its big-time banking ambitions

Explains why bank charter is so critical to SoFi's plans.


10/13: But not so critical that SoFi can't drop it: SoFi Withdraws U.S. Banking Application, Citing Leadership Change (Fortune)