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Canada’s Showpass sees record growth in 2019

Canadian ticketing firm Showpass has seen its revenue increase a record 83 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2019, through expanded partnerships with Facebook and Square, as well as via acquisitions.

Earlier in the year, Showpass integrated with financial services and mobile payment firm Square’s Point of Sale hardware, allowing it to accept and track credit, debit and tap purchases at the door. The ticketing firm also introduced a new feature called ‘QuickQ,’ which helps to reduce line-ups with QR code technology.

This year, Showpass has signed several well-known event organisers and venues including Pride Calgary, the Vancouver Christmas Market, Enthusiast Gaming Conference, US Squash, and Old Home Week PEI, among others.

Lucas McCarthy, chief executive of Showpass, said: “Showpass’ vision is to offer exceptional event experiences to people around the world. This starts by making events seamless for organisers and ticket-buyers with thoughtful technology, making ticket purchasing easy on- and offline.

“Now that we have the tools, the tech, and the people in place to manage offline and online ticketing, our next challenge is using our additional funding and talent to start scaling our global distribution channels.”

In addition, the Canadian ticketing firm acquired Token Mobile Solutions in 2019, and recently completed an equity raise.

The Token Mobile system replaces the need for physical tokens and cash, allowing purchases and redemptions to happen within the app. As part of the acquisition, founder and chief executive of Token Mobile, Bill Gaskey, will join the Showpass Partnerships team.

To keep up with its record growth and strategic plan to scale, the tech company announced it will double its headcount by the end of 2020, placing an additional 40 hires in its Calgary head office.

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