Cheers to a fantastic year — and 10 years of Tixr!
It’s crazy to think that two industry outsiders with a dream bootstrapped this business a decade ago. Looking back, perhaps our naiveté was a blessing. Three Santa Monica offices later, we’re now the #25th largest private global marketplace, and our technology powers 500 of the most respected live entertainment brands in the world. Crossing the major milestone of $1B in all-time transactions in 2022, we nearly duplicated that same feat in 12 months this year.
Our entrepreneurial spirit has always been our driving force, shaping who we are and where we focus.
2023 was all about strategic expansion, building on the momentum from our record-breaking 2022. We brought in our first-ever Chief Strategy Officer, Irene Hedges, and while other tech companies faced layoffs, we’ve made calculated investments into our team across all departments and time zones. We’re now 130-strong, solidifying our presence in the Canadian and European markets and diversifying further across music, cultural events, and sports.
Our guiding principle, "Beyond Ticketing," became our North Star. We believe fans should have a seamless experience purchasing everything around events, and in April, we unveiled the third evolution of our fan-facing user experience. Now, complex destination festivals like Splash House, D-I collegiate athletic spectacles like Military Bowl, pop culture gatherings like VidCon, and high-end culinary experiences like Steamboat Food & Wine Festival can offer a diverse array of items up-front. From reserved seats to hospitality, parking, hotel packages, seminars, tastings, cabanas, lockers, merchandise, subscriptions, live streams, and more, full-screen product details and powerful filtering help fans buy the exact kind of experience they desire.
On the sports front, 2023 marked many more Tixr firsts. With a more mature reserved seating and season ticketing product, we entered professional basketball, baseball, and rugby, college athletics and bowl season, and international competition. From the NBA G-League with the Portland Trail Blazers’ affiliate Rip City Remix to minor league baseball with Gary Southshore Railcats and major league rugby with NOLA Gold, Tixr made its mark in pro-sports. Mercer University’s Bears and the University of San Diego’s Toreros Division-I programs also traded in their legacy solutions to join us on the bleeding edge.
Our dedication to building exceptional partnerships in music continues. We welcomed marquee independent festivals, venues, and promoters like Riot Fest, Cowboys Music Festival, Sturgis Buffalo Chip, Whitewater Amphitheater, and Ineffable Music Group, plus newcomers like LIV Las Vegas and Stable Hall making their public debuts with Tixr. We helped thwart resellers and bots for Pretty Lights’ 3-day camping festival at The Caverns thanks to an integrated on sale and communications strategy backed by our rock solid ticketing technology. Ongoing artist collaborations with Topeka on Brandi Carlile’s Mothership and RÜFÜS DU SOL on Sundream Baja also underscored the power of the right partnerships for artists looking to curate their own experiences.
As Tixr turns 10, commemorating the decade-long journey alongside my cofounder, Patrick Stavro, and our original core team of engineers and designers, is a privilege. On a personal level, recognition from Goldman Sachs as an exceptional entrepreneur is a reflection of the exceptional product, team, and community we’ve built together, and I couldn’t be more proud.
Looking ahead to 2024, we’ve got the right team in place, and we're ready to deliver. Expect innovations that challenge ticketing industry norms, differentiate us from legacy solutions, and take us further beyond the ticket. Here's to the next ten years of growth, innovation, and success.
With gratitude,
Robert Davari
