Pogoseat Raises $2.3 Million To Offer Discounted Seat Upgrades At Sporting Events

Los Angeles-based Pogoseat has built a mobile app that enables fans who attend sporting events to instantly upgrade their seats or purchase a number of different in-game experiences. Now the company is looking to expand, thanks to $2.3 million in seed funding from a wide range of investors.

Pogoseat began by offering a simple way to allow sports fans who show up to an event to improve their view of the action by purchasing seat upgrades through its own app, or through the apps of its partners. Fans could purchase upgrades the day of a game, or even during the middle of a game, and get seats closer to the field.

That enabled sports franchises to incremental revenue to be collected for seats that were otherwise unsold or no one was sitting in. Launching with the Golden State Warriors, Pogoseat has signed up a number of clients that use its tools to make more money and drive loyalty among their biggest fans.

In addition to the Warriors, customers include the Sacramento Kings, the San Francisco Giants, The Anaheim Ducks, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Arena Football League, all of which are using Pogoseat as a way to offer a better experience to their fans.

For them, switching seats is just one new revenue stream, as Pogoseat and partners believe there are a number of other ways that they can improve the fan experience. Whether that means booking time with a team’s mascot or making putting a message on the big screen, Pogoseat is increasingly being used to power the purchase of on-the-fly, in-game experiences.

Increasingly, franchises are offering up points systems to season ticket holders that enable fans to purchase these experiences as a loyalty reward for showing up to the games.

With that product now available, Pogoseat is not only looking to grow its number of sports clients, but it is also hoping to expand into other events. Most notably, that includes concerts and other events, where users could either upgrade their seats or pay at the event for merchandise or better event access.

To help it expand, the company has raised $2.3 million in seed funding to start making the technology more widely available to sports franchises. Investors include Structure Capital, SK Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, KDDI and Global Brain Open Innovation Fund, Jillian Manus’ Broad Strategy Fund, Tylt Lab, Universal Music Group, Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke, Joshua Schacter, Kima Ventures, XG Ventures, the owners of the Sacramento Kings, and the minority owner of the Golden State Warriors.