UPshow Raises $6M Series A Funding - Transforming In-Venue Engagement For Businesses
Engagement Platform Connects TVs Within A Business and Consumer Smart Phones To Increase Sales, Engagement and Loyalty
Mar 14, 2019, 13:37 ET
CHICAGO, March 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- UPshow, a screen-based consumer engagement platform that's changing the way businesses think about in-venue marketing, has secured $6 million in Series A funding led by TDF Ventures and Jump Capital.
UPshow transforms how brick and mortar businesses leverage their TVs and consumer's smart phones to enhance engagement, drive sales and improve their marketing ROI. In 2018, UPshow's annual location growth increased 126%, and since its late 2015 launch, the platform has driven over 7.5 billion impressions and 100 million engagements on social media.
"This funding round enables the company to further change in-venue engagement's effectiveness with scalable growth and enhanced product development," said Adam Hirsen, UPshow's CEO and co-founder. "UPshow gives businesses a reason to think beyond solely directing their marketing efforts on external advertising. Rather, they can focus on maximizing engagement and driving behaviors when consumers are within their four walls."
Powering more than 4,500 locations with 12,000+ active TV screens, UPshow's customers include hospitality, fitness, entertainment and healthcare venues such as Crunch Fitness, UFC Gyms, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Sky Zone, ATI Physical Therapy and many more. UPshow's platform gives venues total control over their TV screens to showcase brand and customer-generated social media content, feature promotions and provide hyperlocal entertainment curated just for the location.
UPshow's rapid growth can be attributed to the platform's plug-and-play solution that simplifies managing multiple TVs from any device. Powered by the Google Chromebit (a slim HDMI stick), businesses can instantly transform their TVs into brand-specific channels that provide global, national and hyperlocal content.
"It's exciting to see how UPshow is disrupting in-venue engagement, where businesses are still reliant on 'old-school' channels like cable TV and paper marketing," said Jim Pastoriza, TDF Ventures' Managing Partner. "We see huge potential in how UPshow's engagement platform modernizes and transforms the in-venue customer experience."
"The average venue uses four TV channels and still pays for bulky cable packages with no control over content," said Yelena Shkolnik, Vice President at Jump Capital. "UPshow turns that one-to-many medium into a powerful messaging and engagement platform, and we are excited to partner with the future of in-venue entertainment."
ABOUT UPSHOW
UPshow is changing the way businesses think about in-venue marketing. Its plug-and-play technology transforms a venue's TVs into engaging and promotional experiences that drive sales, enhance engagement and improve marketing ROI. Powering more than 4,500 locations with 12,000+ active screens, UPshow's customers include hospitality, fitness, entertainment and healthcare venues such as Crunch Fitness, UFC Gyms, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Sky Zone, ATI Physical Therapy, among others. For more information, please visit www.upshow.tv
ABOUT TDF VENTURES
TDF Ventures invests in seed and Series A stage start-ups focused on software, infrastructure and services (SaaS, IaaS, XaaS) and is currently investing from a $150M Fund IV. Areas of focus include business process automation, vertical SaaS, cybersecurity, cloud services, data, edge computing, logistics, networking, financial technology, satellite, mobility, AI/ML and anything as a service. TDF has offices in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley. For more information, visit www.tdfventures.com
ABOUT JUMP CAPITAL
Jump Capital, a venture capital firm specializing in expansion and growth stage investments ranging from $2-$20mm, invests in data-driven enterprise software companies across a breadth of industries. With offices in Chicago and New York, Jump Capital provides advocacy and support through a platform of institutional-level resources for entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.jumpcap.com.
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Paramount Public Relations, Inc.
Jessica Prah, [email protected], 312-953-3257
SOURCE UPshow