Tiqets secures US$23 million to accelerate its leading position in the Tours & Activities Industry

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Tiqets announced today that it has secured US$23 million in funding. This round of investment, which adds to the US$17 million the company raised for its series B in May 2017, was led by HPE Growth Capital - with participation from existing shareholders. The fresh capital allows Tiqets’ further technology development and to continue its massive growth.

Tiqets was launched in 2015 to solve two problems: a lack of options for consumers to seamlessly book admission tickets for museums and attractions, and insufficient access to mobile technology for venues to reach a global audience. Tiqets is now the global leader in this 60-billion-dollar market - which is part of the 160-billion-dollar tours and activities market, according to PhocusWright*.

- To date, Tiqets connects with over two thousand venues in 140 cities (bookable in 9 languages)

- Tiqets is the world’s highest rated company in the tours and activities space, with a score of 9.3 on Trustpilot

- In August 2018, close to 500,000 people booked with Tiqets

- Tiqets reached the milestone of 7 million tickets distributed in less than 4 years

“The company has built an outstanding platform. With unique real-time connectivity to top partners, we can offer customers great availability and choice at the most popular museums and attractions in the world”, says Simon Breakwell, co founder of Expedia and chairman of the board. "Tiqets’ growth is exceptional, we are incredibly product-driven and as a result, we have been able to scale at capital-efficiency levels that are unparalleled in the industry. I have enormous respect for how the team continuously strives for innovation, with great insight into the market needs”.

By connecting directly with venues, Tiqets guarantees instant, last-minute and mobile entrance. As the majority of all travelers book their tours and activities ‘in-destination’, the technology to allow real-time booking is crucial to customers. Companies like Veltra, from Japan, and Google also recognized Tiqets’ high quality in ticketing earlier this year - that resulted in valuable, and even exclusive, partnerships.

"Tiqets invested heavily in its technology in the last years, which paid off. We will continue to do this and keep improving our mobile booking experience, as over 70% of our customers book on mobile”, says Luuc Elzinga, CEO of Tiqets. “In addition to our own B2C platform, we support venues by developing the best solutions to improve their customer experience, provide them with technology that helps increase conversion onsite, and increase CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value)".

* Phocuswright white paper August 2018: Escaping the Sidelines: Tours & Activities Get Going

About Tiqets

Tiqets’ mission is to make culture more accessible. Tiqets makes cultural experiences instantly accessible by simplifying the ticketing process for venues and customers. Tiqets’ innovative platform enables visitors to instantly find, book and use tickets for museums and attractions and helps venues to increase revenues.

The company was founded in 2014 in Amsterdam. Tiqets has offices in Amsterdam (HQ), Philadelphia, Bangkok, Paris, London, Barcelona, Rome, and Vienna. Tiqets is an award-winning global ticketing platform (Tech5 Awards 2014, 2015, Ticketing Business of the Year Award 2018). More information can be found on www.tiqets.com.

Tiqets’ non-executive board members are Jonne de Leeuw (HPE), Erik Kooistra (Investion) and Simon Breakwell (co-founder of Expedia, formerly non-executive board member of Onefinestay and HomeAway.com and currently CEO at The AA). Simon Breakwell has been chairman of the board since June 2017.

About HPE Growth Capital

HPE Growth Capital is an international private equity firm focused on growth capital investments in the technology sector. HPE Growth Capital was founded in 2008 and manages over 450 million euro of committed capital, with offices in Amsterdam, San Francisco, and Düsseldorf. HPE has extensive operating and investing experience in the technology sector, as well as a strong network in Europe and Silicon Valley. They aim to team up with experienced entrepreneurs and management teams to build industry-leading companies across several technology segments. More information can be found at www.hpegrowthcapital.com

Not for publication:

For more information, interview requests and images please contact:

Marion Wolff

Head of Marketing & Communication

marion@tiqets.com

+31 624 51 08 08

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