Vendini gets funding to expand Petaluma office

Vendini, the event ticketing company with a Petaluma satellite office, has received its first outside investment, $20 million in funding from New York-based private equity firm Level Equity.

The funding will allow the Petaluma office to grow from its current 35 employees to 80 workers, said Paul Chalker, company spokesman.

The San Francisco-based company has seen its growth rapidly increase in recent years. It has made three acquisitions in the past four years, including the 2014 purchase of Sebastopol-based InTicketing, which specialized in online ticketing for music venues, promoters and festivals. Founded in 2001, the company did about $1 billion in ticket sales in its first 14 years working with festivals such as Burning Man and Bonnaroo.

Vendini, however, is on pace to do another $1 billion in its 15th year in business, Chalker said.

“We’re profitable and there has been a ton of growth,” Chalker said.

The company, which has five other regional offices, will primarily be recruiting customer service personnel and engineering specialists for its downtown Petaluma office, Chalker said.

Competing against a behemoth such as Ticketmaster, Vendini has carved out a niche in the ticketing business by offering comprehensive services to venues, such as software that allows marketing and fundraising donations, tools that track VIP customers and a database for items such as hotel accommodations, travel itineraries and artists’ legal riders.

It works now with more than 4,000 venues, such as nightclubs, museums, comedy clubs, sports organizations and universities.

“Since the beginning, it was never about just ticketing software for us - it’s always been about building a cohesive, all-in-one system. We’re excited to keep building, innovating and giving organizations the tools they need to compete and succeed, and this round of funding lets us do that faster,” said founder and CEO Mark Tacchi in statement.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.