UK-born ticketing platform DICE has been acquired by Live events discovery platform Fever.

The news arrives in the same week that Fever, which was last valued at $1.8 billion in 2023, secured another $100 million-plus in equity funding.

Fever did not disclose the price of the deal, but confirmation of the sale arrives around a year after Bloomberg reported that DICE was in advanced talks to sell a significant stake in its company, potentially valuing it at “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

DICE has itself raised more than $200 million in funding to date, including a $65 million round in August 2023, led by MUSIC, the investment company co-founded by Matt Pincus and LionTree. Other investors in that round were Structural Capital and Ahdritz Holding LLC, the investment vehicle for Willard Ahdritz, founder and chairman of Kobalt Music.

In 2021, DICE raised $122 million from its Series C round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Other investors included iPod inventor and iPhone co-inventor Tony Fadell’s Future Shape, Blisce, French entrepreneur Xavier Niel, Mirabaud, Cassius and Evolution. 

DICE and FEVER announced on Thursday (June 5) that they are joining forces with ambitions to “build the world’s leading independent live entertainment tech platform”.

Fever claims that its audience spans over 40 countries and reaches 300 million people through its discovery platform and media.

Fever’s music partners include the likes of Primavera Sound, Fabrik, Last Tour, Cercle and TCE Presents. DICE works with venues, festivals, and promoters like Club Space, Newport Jazz and Folk Festival, Sonar, London’s Alexandra Palace and Rough Trade globally.

DICE reports that it has “more than doubled its ticket sales” in the past two years, surpassing 10 million monthly active users.

Commenting on the deal, Phil Hutcheon, Founder & CEO of DICE, said: “Since launching DICE in 2014, we’ve stayed true to our mission to get people out more by constantly enhancing the fan experience.”

“Joining forces allows us to scale even faster. Reaching new cities, helping sell out more shows, and delivering the seamless experience fans expect.”

Phil Hutcheon

Added Hutcheon: “From our personalised Discover feature to our upfront, all-in pricing and Waitlist feature, we’ve always put fans first. That same ethos is what we’ve found in Fever.

“Joining forces allows us to scale even faster. Reaching new cities, helping sell out more shows, and delivering the seamless experience fans expect.”

Fever announced on Wednesday (June 4) that it’s secured $100 million-plus in equity funding from private equity firms L Catterton and Point72 Private Investments, along with “existing investors”.

Those existing investors notably include Goldman Sachs, which led a $227 million investment round in the company in 2022 – what Fever called “the largest ever” investment round for a live entertainment tech startup – as well as a $110 million round in 2023, which gave the company its $1.8 billion valuation.

The company didn’t update its valuation in its announcement of the latest funding round. Based on data from Tracxn, the company has in total raised $527 million in funding, when including the latest round.

Fever was founded in 2014.

Commenting on the deal, Fever Co-Founders Ignacio Bachiller, Alexandre Perez and Francisco Hein, said: “Together, we are strengthening our position as the leading global tech player for culture & live entertainment.”

“We are on a joint mission to put fans first and provide our partners with the best and most innovative tools.”

Ignacio Bachiller, Alexandre Perez and Francisco Hein, Co-Founders, Fever

They added: “We are on a joint mission to put fans first and provide our partners with the best and most innovative tools.

“At Fever, we are firm believers that data and technology have the power to elevate the live music experience, making it more accessible, more personalised, and ultimately more impactful for fans, artists, and venues alike.”

Earlier this year, DICE divested music platform Boiler Room, selling it to European live music giant Superstruct Entertainment.

DICE acquired the UK’s Boiler Room, an electronic music-centric livestream platform, in 2021, just a week after it announced that it had raised $122 million in Series C funding.Music Business Worldwide