Vendini

Vendini was a San Francisco-based ticketing technology company founded in 2001 by Mark Tacchi. It developed software and related hardware for organizations that sold and administered admission to live events. The company initially concentrated on theaters and playhouses, then expanded into live music venues, music and arts festivals, casinos, sporting events, and other event-oriented businesses across North America. The company's core proposition combined online and box-office ticketing with operational tools for event organizers. Its software supported ticket sales, customer and venue operations, event access control, and related workflows. Vendini also supplied physical equipment, including mobile laser scanners, credit-card readers, cash drawers, charging stations, thermal ticket printers, and ticket stock. This combination allowed venues and promoters to purchase an integrated system rather than assemble separate ticketing, payment, and admission-control products. Tacchi reportedly began building the original Vendini software without outside funding, working from a mountain home in Tahoe, California. Before founding Vendini, he had worked at NeXT and Apple and had founded the software company Hipbone in 1999. Hipbone was later acquired by KANA in 2004. Vendini's early theater focus broadened as the company added capabilities and customer relationships in music and festival operations. Its expansion included acquisitions intended to strengthen particular segments: Dataflow Workspace in 2011 for festival back-office management, In Ticketing in 2014 for online ticketing and box-office software serving live music venues, and CrowdTorch in 2015 for consumer ticketing and live-event services. Vendini's product family included TicketAgent, a mobile iOS application that enabled venues to sell tickets; TicketScan, an iOS application for scanning tickets and controlling access; and Walletini, an iOS and Android application that stored tickets purchased online for live events. The company also provided customer support and the hardware used to operate ticket offices and entrances. The business reported substantial transaction volume during its independent period. Reference material states that Vendini reached $2 billion in gross sales in 2016, 17 months after reaching its first billion; this figure is a gross-sales measure rather than a disclosed revenue or valuation figure. In 2014, the company joined the PCI Security Council as a participating organization, reflecting its involvement in payment-data security standards. It was also included in the 2014 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for North America, a ranking based on percentage revenue growth from 2009 through 2013. In 2019, AudienceView acquired Vendini. Following the acquisition, the Vendini product was rebranded as AudienceView Select. In July 2020, AudienceView announced that AudienceView Select, identified with the former Vendini product, would be deprecated and that customers would be migrated to AudienceView Professional. As a result, Vendini no longer operated as an independent active brand, and its technology and customer base were folded into AudienceView's product portfolio.

Vendini was established in 2001 by Mark Tacchi as a software company focused on ticketing for live events. Tacchi had previously worked at NeXT and Apple and had founded Hipbone, a software company later acquired by KANA. According to the available account of Vendini's origins, he developed the first Vendini software without outside funding from a mountain house in Tahoe, California, using a card table between snowboarding sessions. The company was headquartered in San Francisco. Vendini initially targeted theaters and playhouses. Its business later widened to include live music venues, music and arts festivals, casinos, sporting events, and other organizations that needed to sell tickets and manage entry. The company pursued an integrated model that combined software, mobile applications, payment and ticket-office equipment, access-control tools, and customer support. This model addressed both the consumer-facing sale of admission and the operational work performed by venues and promoters. The company's software portfolio included TicketAgent, an iOS application used by venues to sell tickets, and TicketScan, an iOS application used to scan tickets and control access at event entrances. Walletini, available for iOS and Android, served as a digital passbook for tickets purchased online. Vendini also supplied mobile laser scanners, charging stations, credit-card readers, cash drawers, thermal ticket printers, ticket stock, and support services. Acquisitions helped Vendini expand beyond its original theater-oriented base. In 2011, it acquired Dataflow Workspace, a product developed by Knoxville, Tennessee-based Dataflow Enterprises for managing the back-office aspects of music and arts festivals. Robby Black, Dataflow Enterprises' founder and chief executive, joined Vendini as director of festival solutions. In 2014, Vendini acquired In Ticketing, a Sebastopol, California company founded by Steve Weisz in 2001. In Ticketing provided online ticketing and box-office software with a strong concentration in live music venues, and Weisz joined Vendini to lead business development for the live-music division. In 2015, Vendini acquired CrowdTorch, a consumer ticketing and live-event platform based in Santa Monica that had previously been owned by Cvent. CrowdTorch also operated consumer portals such as LaughStub, ElectroStub, and TuneStub. Vendini's growth was recognized through its inclusion in the 2014 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for North America. The ranking assessed percentage revenue growth from 2009 through 2013. In the same year, Vendini announced that it had joined the PCI Security Council as a participating organization, linking the company to industry work on payment-card data security standards. The available reference material reports that Vendini reached $2 billion in gross sales in 2016, 17 months after reaching its first billion. This was a gross-sales milestone and should not be treated as a disclosed net-revenue figure. No reliable public information in the supplied material establishes Vendini's valuation, profitability, or public-market status. In 2019, AudienceView acquired Vendini. The product was subsequently renamed AudienceView Select, marking the end of Vendini's independent product identity. In July 2020, AudienceView announced that AudienceView Select, identified as the former Vendini offering, would be deprecated. Customers were to be migrated to AudienceView Professional. This transition effectively retired Vendini as an active standalone brand and placed its functionality and customer relationships within AudienceView's broader event-management software portfolio.

• 2020

  AudienceView Select is deprecated

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  AudienceView announced the retirement of AudienceView Select and planned migration of its customers to AudienceView Professional.

• 2019

  Acquisition by AudienceView

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  AudienceView acquired Vendini, after which the Vendini product was rebranded as AudienceView Select.

• 2016

  Gross-sales milestone

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Vendini reportedly reached $2 billion in gross sales, 17 months after reaching its first billion.

• 2015

  CrowdTorch acquisition

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Vendini acquired CrowdTorch, adding a consumer ticketing and live-event platform and its associated consumer portals.

• 2014

  In Ticketing acquisition

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Vendini acquired In Ticketing, strengthening its online ticketing and box-office capabilities for live music venues.

• 2014

  PCI Security Council participation

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Vendini joined the PCI Security Council as a participating organization involved in the development and improvement of payment-data security standards.

• 2011

  Dataflow Workspace acquisition

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Vendini acquired Dataflow Workspace to add software for the administrative and back-office management of music and arts festivals.

• 2001

  Vendini is founded

  [1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Mark Tacchi founded Vendini as a ticketing-software company serving live-event organizations, initially with a focus on theaters and playhouses.

An integrated ticketing and live-event operations provider for theaters, music venues, festivals, casinos, sporting events, and other admission-based organizations.

• Event ticketing and venue-management software · 2001

  Vendini ticketing platform

  Vendini's principal software provided ticket sales and operational tools for theaters, music venues, festivals, casinos, sporting events, and other live-event organizations. The platform was supported by box-office workflows, customer support, payment equipment, ticket printing, and admission-control hardware.

• Mobile ticket sales application

  TicketAgent

  TicketAgent was an iOS application designed for venues to sell tickets through a mobile device. It formed part of Vendini's effort to extend ticket-sales operations beyond fixed box-office terminals.

• Mobile access-control application

  TicketScan

  TicketScan was an iOS application used by event operators to scan tickets and control admission at venues. It complemented Vendini's ticketing system by addressing the entrance and validation stage of the event lifecycle.

• Digital ticket wallet

  Walletini

  Walletini was a mobile application for iOS and Android that acted as a digital passbook for tickets purchased online for live events. It gave ticket buyers a mobile location for storing and presenting their event credentials.

• Ticketing and payment hardware

  Vendini ticketing hardware

  Vendini supplied equipment used in ticket offices and event entrances, including mobile laser scanners, charging stations, credit-card readers, cash drawers, thermal ticket printers, and ticket stock. These products supported the company's integrated software-and-hardware operating model.

• 2020

  Retirement of AudienceView SelectStrategy

  Background

  Following the acquisition and rebranding of Vendini as AudienceView Select, AudienceView rationalized its product portfolio.

  Action taken

  AudienceView announced that AudienceView Select would be deprecated and that customers would be migrated to AudienceView Professional.

  Aftermath

  The decision completed the retirement of the Vendini-derived standalone product identity and consolidated customers on AudienceView Professional.

  Source

• 2019

  AudienceView acquires VendiniM&A

  Background

  Vendini had developed a broad ticketing and event-operations portfolio through organic expansion and acquisitions in festival, live-music, and consumer ticketing markets.

  Action taken

  AudienceView acquired Vendini and subsequently changed the product brand to AudienceView Select.

  Aftermath

  Vendini ceased to operate as an independent brand, while its technology and customers became part of AudienceView's product portfolio.

  Source

• 2020

  AudienceView announces the deprecation of AudienceView Select[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  AudienceView announced that AudienceView Select, the successor name for the Vendini product, would be deprecated and that customers would be migrated to AudienceView Professional.

• 2019

  AudienceView acquires Vendini[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Product generation

  AudienceView acquired Vendini and subsequently rebranded the Vendini product as AudienceView Select.

• 2016

  Vendini reports $2 billion in gross sales[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Reference material states that Vendini reached $2 billion in gross sales in 2016, 17 months after reaching its first billion. The reported figure describes gross sales processed or facilitated, not necessarily company revenue.

• 2015

  Vendini acquires CrowdTorch[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Vendini acquired CrowdTorch, a Santa Monica-based consumer ticketing and live-event platform previously owned by Cvent. CrowdTorch operated consumer portals including LaughStub, ElectroStub, and TuneStub.

• 2014

  Vendini acquires In Ticketing[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Vendini acquired the Sebastopol-based ticketing and box-office provider In Ticketing to strengthen its live-music business. Founder Steve Weisz joined Vendini in a business-development leadership role.

• 2014

  Vendini joins the PCI Security Council[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Regulation

  Vendini became a participating organization in the PCI Security Council and stated that it would contribute to the development and improvement of payment-data security standards.

• 2014

  Vendini is named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Vendini was included in Deloitte's 2014 Technology Fast 500 for North America, a ranking based on percentage revenue growth over the 2009–2013 period.

• 2011

  Vendini acquires Dataflow Workspace[1]Vendinien.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Vendini acquired Dataflow Workspace, a festival-management software business, and added its founder Robby Black to lead festival solutions.

1. 1Vendinien.wikipedia.org