VenueNext joins the Causeway Portfolio
As a partial owner of the San Francisco 49ers, I’ve been aware of the development of the technology underpinning VenueNext since it was first started. I watched the work while it was underway, and saw the goals and intents behind the technology development come to life at Levi’s Stadium.
Since that time, I’ve always believed it was a compelling opportunity, and as it has developed into a standalone company, prompting a positive market response from many interested venues, I’m excited to become an investor and board member at VenueNext.
And for many other reasons too; VenueNext is the first to offer venues a seamless integration of all services available inside of the venue, all through a single mobile interface. There are a multitude of other players in the market who provide a single feature, which quickly loses novelty and doesn’t fully serve the user. VenueNext is creating an ecoystem for every one of their customers, as JP and the team also work with other vendors they see as additive to the platform and guest experience for venue owners. I like that they have decided already they can’t try to do it all themselves.
Second, the opportunity is much bigger than how it’s being used today in a sporting venue, a game or even a concert. In the past ten months, VenueNext has proven there’s a clear opportunity with sporting venues as it demonstrated the potential and capability of its platform within Levi’s Stadium. Because VenueNext has taken a mobile first approach and smartly innovated around location based services, many other types of venue owners and operators have been excited to witness it in action, and quickly act on the incremental value VenueNext will add for their own business as well as the customer experience.
They’ve made something possible here that others before them have not been able to do and this means they can quickly apply a whole bunch of things they’ve learned at Levi’s to other settings. Whether that’s in the setting of checking into a hotel, or visiting an amusement park, there’s a place and a need for VenueNext’s platform. That’s where the true market opportunity for VenueNext is and a big reason for our investment.
I’m excited by what’s ahead — to see what some of the early use cases will be outside of Levi’s Stadium and to watch them deploy the platform successfully elsewhere. If this momentum continues, and the product continues to operate as it’s expected once it’s installed, it’s likely to be very sticky. I don’t see venue or facility owners ripping this out, and with the technical brilliance of the team and the commitment to learning and innovating with every installation, I have faith they will become the leaders in transforming venue experiences for people worldwide.
Congratulations to VenueNext and I’m looking forward to partnering alongside them for the journey ahead.
