Event platform Posh raised a fresh $37 million to solve one of the quintessential \u201ctarpit\u201d startup ideas: turning the \u201cwhat are we doing tonight?\u201d group chat into an actual plan.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2019 by then\u2011New York University students Avante Price and Eli Taylor\u2011Lemire, Posh began as software they built to run their own events after getting cheated by promoters and hitting the limits of Eventbrite. \u201cI was using Eventbrite and other products to manage events, and then realized that the technology components were missing a ton of the capabilities that I needed,\u201d Price told Fortune. That pain point became Posh\u2019s product: a business\u2011first platform where organizers, not the marketplace, sit at the center.\u200b The company is already capturing corners of the events industry which is on track to be worth more than $2 trillion<\/a> by 2028.<\/p>\n Now, the company has raised its $37 million Series B led by FirstMark Capital with Causeway Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Companyon Ventures, and Epic Ventures, Fortune has exclusively learned.<\/p>\n Posh\u2019s model is straightforward: Posh takes about a 10% cut on paid tickets plus a 99\u2011cent fee per ticket, its primary revenue stream. In 2024, the company generated roughly $10 million<\/a> in revenue on more than $83 million in ticket sales (the same year it raised $22 million<\/a> in Series A funding). Today, the business has grown to an estimated $40 million in cumulative revenue, according to Price, processing $350 million in GMV and 25 million tickets since inception, with top organizers generating over $10 million on the platform. \u201cWhat you have to do is you have to own the transaction first,\u201d Price told Fortune.\u00a0<\/p>\n Posh already powers everything from Palm Tree Festival and We Belong Here to brand activations with Lamborghini, Adidas<\/a>, the NBA, Celsius, HBO<\/a>, and Complex. The company has also poached talent from Meta<\/a>, Reddit, Amazon<\/a>, Hinge, Spotify<\/a>, Block<\/a>, and Canva to accomplish its goals. For the first four years, Posh was essentially \u201cShopify<\/a> for events,\u201d focused on tooling for nightlife: white\u2011label pages, SMS CRM, referral kickbacks, linked ticket tiers, and instant payouts. Now, with roughly 50,000 organizers and nearly 8 million users, the center of gravity has shifted toward demand\u2014what Price calls a \u201cNetflix\u2011style feed\u201d that surfaces parties, activities, food and drink, and other categories based on where your broader social graph is actually going.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe solved problem is your core group chat,\u201d he says. \u201cThe harder problem is those 10 or 20 people you\u2019d love to catch up with but never text. We\u2019re trying to reintroduce that serendipity.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n Lily Mae Lazarus Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n VENTURE CAPITAL<\/p>\n – XBOW<\/b><\/a>, a Seattle, Wash.-based autonomous offensive cybersecurity platform, raised $120 million in Series C funding. DFJ<\/b> Growth<\/b> and Northzone<\/b> led the round and was joined by Alkeon<\/b> Capital<\/b> and Sofina and existing investors.<\/p>\n – Crossbow<\/b> Therapeutics<\/b><\/a>, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company developing antibody therapies designed to treat cancers, raised $77 million in Series B funding. Taiho Ventures<\/b> and Arkin Bio Capital<\/b> led the round and were joined by Sixty Degree Capital, Hamilton<\/b> Square<\/b> Partners<\/b> Management<\/b>, LifeLink<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, Libbs<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Beautiful.ai<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered presentation making platform, raised $45 million from General<\/b> Catalyst<\/b>.\u00a0<\/p>\n – Paraform<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered recruiting platform, raised $40 million in Series B funding. ScaleVP<\/b> led the round and was joined by Felicis<\/b>, A*<\/b>, and Liquid<\/b> 2<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Edra<\/b><\/a>, a New York City and London, U.K.-based developer of AI technology designed to learn how enterprise teams work and automate their workflows, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Sequoia<\/b> led the round.<\/p>\n – Corridor<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI coding security startup, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Felicis<\/b> led the round and was joined by Conviction<\/b>, Timeless<\/b>, Artisanal<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, Lux<\/b> Capital<\/b>, Sunflower<\/b> Capital<\/b>, Datadog<\/b>, and SV<\/b> Angel<\/b>.<\/p>\n – RAVEN<\/b><\/a>, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based cybersecurity company, raised $20 million in funding, including a seed rund led by Norwest<\/b> and post-seed funding led by Elron<\/b> Ventures<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Cocoon<\/b> Carbon<\/b><\/a>, a London, U.K.-based cement replacement materials company, raised $15 million Series A funding. 2150<\/b> and Brick & Mortar Ventures<\/b> led the round and were joined by TVC<\/b> and others.<\/p>\n – Rivia<\/b><\/a>, a Zurich, Germany-based developer of a data engine designed for clinical trial intelligence, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Earlybird<\/b> led the round and was joined by Defiant<\/b> and existing investors.<\/p>\n – Manifold<\/b><\/a>, a San Diego, Calif.-based AI detection and response platform, raised $8 million in seed funding. Costanoa<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and was joined by angel investors.<\/p>\n – Obin<\/b> AI<\/b><\/a>, a New York City-based developer of agentic AI technology for financial workflows, raised $7 million in seed funding. Motive<\/b> Partners<\/b> led the round and was joined by Fei-Fei Li <\/b>and Lukasz<\/b> Kaiser<\/b>.<\/p>\n – VerbaFlo<\/b><\/a>, a London, U.K.-based developer of conversational AI designed for customer interaction, raised $7 million in seed funding. Pi<\/b> Labs<\/b> led the round and was joined by Haatch<\/b>, Navigate<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, Old<\/b> College<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Reson8<\/b><\/a>, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based speech technology company, raised \u20ac5 million ($5.7 million) in pre-seed funding. Balderton<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round and was joined by NP<\/b> Hard<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Respan<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI observability platform, raised $5 million in funding from Gradient Y Combinator<\/b>, Hat-Trick<\/b> Capital<\/b>, XIAOXIAO<\/b> FUND<\/b>, Antigravity<\/b> Capital<\/b>, Alpen<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and angel investors.<\/p>\n PRIVATE EQUITY<\/p>\n – JF<\/b> Group<\/b>, backed by MidOcean<\/b> Partners<\/b>, acquired Midwest<\/b> Petroleum<\/b> Equipment<\/b><\/a>, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based petroleum equipment and services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – Tech24<\/b>, a portfolio company of Vestar<\/b> Capital<\/b> Partners<\/b> and HCI<\/b> Equity<\/b> Partners<\/b>, acquired Pacific<\/b> Standard<\/b> Service<\/b><\/a>, an Albany, Calif.-based commercial cooking equipment company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n PEOPLE<\/p>\n
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