UK events platform Dice has been acquired after moving to appoint administrators.
Dice has grown to become one of the leading event apps in the UK since launching in 2014. The startup has raised nearly $200m from the likes of SoftBank and French billionaire Xavier Niel.
In a statement on Thursday, the company said that it had been acquired by Spain-founded but now US-based events platform Fever, which says it’s active in more than 40 countries. The terms of the deal are undisclosed.
It comes after Dice filed a notice to appoint administrators on Wednesday, according to court records accessed via Caseboard.
“Joining forces allows us to scale even faster, reaching new cities, helping sell out more shows and delivering the seamless experience fans expect,” said Phil Hutcheon, cofounder and CEO at Dice.
Dice pivoted much of its platform to focus on livestreaming during the days of lockdown during Covid-19, and raised a $122m Series C off the back of its growth during this period. Alongside SoftBank and Niel, Tony Fadell’s Future Shape also participated.
The startup made layoffs in 2023, with a Dice spokesperson saying at the time that it had moved to “restructure” parts of the business. The company’s headcount dropped from a peak of 555 in January 2023, according to data from Dealroom, to 270 today, a figure confirmed by Dice.
Dice did not respond to requests for comment on whether the company would see more layoffs as a result of the acquisition.
The acquisition will see no changes to the user experience on the platform, the company said.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/softbank-backed-dice-acquired/
