Ticket Software Maker Grabs $20M Funding
By JENNIFER BELLANTONIO
Irvine ticketing software maker Paciolan Inc. has nabbed $20 million in funding from Palo Alto’s Technology Crossover Ventures.
The company plans to use the money to “round out our product set,” said John Hnanicek, Paciolan’s chief executive.
The company sells back-office software to large organizations that want to sell tickets, such as professional and college sports teams, performing arts centers and museums.
It also offers e-commerce systems that let companies sell tickets over the Internet.
Hnanicek said the money will help Paciolan “build a strong balance sheet to improve our ability to compete” with Costa Mesa-based Tickets.com Inc. and industry stalwart Ticketmaster Corp., a unit of USA Networks Inc.
“We continue to win a majority of our business from those two players,” Hnanicek said.
Ticketmaster is the dominant player in the field, with both online and offline ticketing and camping reservations operations. Tickets.com, which sells tickets to consumers and ticketing software to groups and venues, has struggled, cutting expenses and making other changes in a bid to get profitable.
As part of the funding round,Paciolan’s third,Technology Crossover will control two board seats. The venture firm’s principal, Will Griffith will join the board, as will Barry McCarthy, chief financial officer of Los Gatos-based Netflix Inc., a company funded by Technology Crossover (see story, page 3).
Privately held Paciolan got $10 million in a first round of funding in 2000. Newport Beach-based Marwit Capital LLC led the round, which included five other companies. Later that year, Paciolan raised another $4 million.
In the past two years, the company, which counts 120 workers, has undergone some changes.
Hnanicek took over as chief executive in 2001, and Jane Kleinberger, the former chief executive, became the company’s chairwoman.
“To execute the growth plan, Jane realized she needed a professional operator that had scaled large businesses in the past,” Hnanicek said.
Kleinberger remains active in strategic selling and as an industry spokeswoman, with Hnanicek running the company.
Hnanicek is the former chief operating officer at eToys Inc. and head of the logistics and systems department at OfficeMax Inc.
Paciolan said its 2002 revenue was $17 million, more than double its 2000 sales.
