Skiddle takes its first outside investment in 25 years
Soho Square Capital has bought a minority stake in the UK ticketing platform, with money earmarked for European expansion and non-music events.
Skiddle, the independent UK ticketing platform founded in Preston in 2001, has taken external investment for the first time. Soho Square Capital now holds a minority stake, and founders Ben Sebborn and Richard Dyer keep control. Skiddle announced the deal on Thursday, November 5, and Music Business Worldwide reported the details. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The money backs a five-year growth plan that was already in place, covering lifestyle events, technology, marketing and European expansion. Lifestyle is the immediate focus. Skiddle wants to grow beyond music, festivals and nightlife into comedy, food and drink, theatre, sport and wider experiences.
Europe comes later. The medium-term plan builds on Skiddle’s presence in the Republic of Ireland and in Ibiza, Mallorca, Malta, Tenerife and Marbella. The partnership also gives the company access to a network of businesses that have expanded in Europe before.
“This investment gives us the backing to move faster across Europe, build our lifestyle offering and keep improving our technology,” Sebborn and Dyer said. They added that choosing a partner who understood Skiddle’s independence and its relationships with promoters and fans was essential.
Skiddle began as a “What’s On” guide and started selling tickets in 2006. In 2025 it handled £178 million in face-value ticket sales across 180,000 listed events, the company says. It reports a 98% promoter retention rate and average revenue growth of more than 20% a year over the past two years. It also recently partnered with the Association of Independent Festivals, offering funded memberships and marketing support to independent UK festivals.
Soho Square is a London-based partnership capital firm that backs founder-owned middle-market businesses across the UK and Northern Europe, typically with senior or preferred capital and minority equity stakes. It says it can commit up to £40 million in a single transaction. Skiddle is the second investment from its Soho Square Partnership Capital Fund II.
“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,” said Joe Tebbutt, a director at Soho Square.
A busy market
The deal lands amid steady dealmaking in UK ticketing. DICE, another UK-born platform, was acquired by live events discovery platform Fever in 2025, having raised more than $200 million over its history. In Europe, CTS Eventim calls itself the continent’s number one in ticketing and live entertainment and reported €3.08 billion ($3.48 billion) in revenue for 2025.
At home, consumer spend on live events rose 9.5% to £6.68 billion in 2024, according to industry group LIVE. Regulators are watching the sector, and Live Nation faces the prospect of a UK competition investigation into live music.
Sebborn and Dyer will keep running Skiddle alongside CFO Peter Hinnigan. Tebbutt joins the board for Soho Square.
