Soho Square Capital Invests in UK Ticketing Platform Skiddle to Accelerate Growth Plan

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Soho Square Capital, an investment firm focused on financing established and growing UK and European SMEs, is pleased to announce a growth investment in Skiddle, the UK’s leading independent ticketing platform. This marks Soho Square’s second investment from Soho Square Partnership Capital Fund II.

Founded in Preston, UK in 2001 by Ben Sebborn and Richard Dyer, Skiddle started as a “What’s On” guide with a simple ambition: to help people discover what was happening around them. It began selling tickets in 2006 and has since grown into one of the UK’s leading independent ticketing and event discovery businesses.

Soho Square’s investment will support Skiddle’s continued expansion beyond its established position in music, festivals and nightlife, 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.

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 alone, Skiddle generated £178 million 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, with the new investment providing additional backing for plans already underway as part of Skiddle’s longer term growth strategy.

Soho Square's flexible approach, combining its capital with a minority equity stake, means Skiddle's co-founders keep control of the business they founded and continue in their leadership roles. They will work alongside CFO Peter Hinnigan and Skiddle’s long standing senior management team, with Joe Tebbutt joining the board on behalf of Soho Square. The investment is the first external capital Skiddle has taken since it was founded.

Ben Sebborn and Richard Dyer, Co-Founders of Skiddle, said:

“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, commented:

“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 served as financial adviser (Ben Taylor) to the shareholders of Skiddle in relation to the investment and Addleshaw Goddard (Paul Medlicott) acted as legal adviser. BDO provided vendor financial due diligence (Matthew Savage) and GCS Insight (James Tetherton) provided vendor commercial due diligence.

About Soho Square Capital

Soho Square Capital is a UK-based partnership capital firm backing founder-owned middle market businesses across the UK and Northern Europe through significant moments of transformation. Rather than imposing a standard financing product, Soho Square structures each investment around the specific transition the business is undertaking, typically through senior or preferred capital with minority equity stakes. Headquartered in London, the team has invested together for over 15 years through multiple economic cycles, with the flexibility to commit up to £40 million in any given transaction across the capital structure. Owners retain control, access the institutional capital needed to scale, and gain the support and expertise of a private equity partner, without giving up the business they've built.

www.soho-sq.com

About Skiddle

Skiddle is one of the UK’s leading independent event ticketing and discovery platforms, helping organisers reach audiences, sell tickets and grow events across music, nightlife, festivals, comedy, sport, food and wider experiences. Founded in 2001, Skiddle combines ticketing technology, marketing tools, audience insight and promoter support to serve events of all sizes. Listing an event is free, while the platform connects organisers with millions of users each month and provides the tools needed to manage, promote and deliver successful events.

www.skiddle.com