Skiddle seals new investment to support European ambitions

Ticketing platform Skiddle has secured funding from investment firm Soho Square Capital to support its growth.

The Preston headquartered firm, founded as a 'what's on' guide in 2001 by Ben Sebborn and Richard Dyer, will use the investment to support its continued expansion, with lifestyle events representing an immediate area of focus alongside further investment in technology, marketing and business development.

European expansion forms part of the company’s medium term ambitions and the investment will support further growth into new European territories over the coming years.

Announcing the deal, Soho Square said: "Alongside capital, the partnership with Soho Square will give Skiddle access to additional strategic experience and a network of businesses that have previously navigated European expansion, supporting the company as it pursues its international plans with greater pace and scale."

In 2025 Skiddle generated £178m in face value ticket sales across 180,000 listed events, while maintaining a 98 per cent promoter retention rate. Revenue has grown by an average of more than 20 per cent a year over the past two years.

The investment is the first external capital Skiddle has taken since it was founded.

Cofounders Ben and Richard said in a joint statement: “We started Skiddle because we wanted to help people find out what was on. Twenty-five years later, that’s still at the heart of what we do, but the opportunity ahead of us is bigger than ever.

"We want to help more people discover brilliant events, give more independent organisers the tools and support to grow, and take Skiddle into new markets. This investment gives us the backing to move faster across Europe, build our lifestyle offering and keep improving our technology.

“Taking investment for the first time was a big decision. Finding a partner who understood Skiddle, our independence and the relationships we’ve built with promoters and fans was essential. Soho Square’s approach means we keep control of the business we’ve spent 25 years building, with the support to take it further.”

Joe Tebbutt, director at Soho Square Capital, said: “Skiddle is a rare example of a founder built business that has become a leader in its market through great service and a genuine understanding of its customers.

"Ben, Richard and the team have earned the loyalty of promoters and fans alike, and the business has grown strongly as a result. This is exactly the kind of transaction Soho Square was built for: the founders stay in control of the business they built and fully committed to it, with the capital and support to pursue their plans for growth. We are delighted to be partnering with them for Skiddle’s next chapter.”

Soho Square's deal team was led by Joe Tebbutt with support from Stephen Edwards and Alex Kustovskyi. Soho Square received legal advice from James Cross at Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, buyside corporate finance from Matt Eves at EY, tax advice from Sofie Morgan at Grant Thornton, technical due diligence from Laurence Holloway at Seedcloud, ESG due diligence from Ollie Funnell at Sustainable Advantage.

KPMG's Ben Taylor served as financial adviser to the shareholders of Skiddle in relation to the investment and Paul Medlicott from Addleshaw Goddard acted as legal adviser. BDO provided vendor financial due diligence through Matthew Savage and James Teetherton of GCS Insight provided vendor commercial due diligence.