Watch out, Ticketmaster: SeatGeek spends $56 million on TopTix

SeatGeek is serious about defeating Ticketmaster.

The ticketing platform just spent $56 million on the ticketing tech company TopTix. SeatGeek paid for that acquisition by raising $57 million in its own Series D funding round. Before this round, SeatGeek had already raised over $100 million in funding.

TopTix is an Israeli company, and a lot of its technology is used internationally. The tech company handles ticketing for 500 teams and institutions in 16 countries including the Netherlands National Soccer Team and Buckingham Palace.

SeatGeek will use that technology to continue to grow in primary ticketing — like Ticketmaster — rather than secondary, or resale, ticketing. The company called the acquisition a "major move that instantly makes SeatGeek one of the largest primary ticketers in the world."

SeatGeek was already working with TopTix to sell tickets for the Major League Soccer team Sporting Kansas City. The company's move into primary ticketing with SeatGeek Open will put tickets in apps, on other websites, or anywhere else you could want to buy a ticket.

“TopTix has by far the best backend primary ticketing technology in the world, and we believe that at SeatGeek we have created by far the best user experience,” SeatGeek co-founder Jack Groetzinger said in a statement. “Combining these two platforms together positions SeatGeek as the best ticketing platform in the industry. We’re thrilled to be working with the team from TopTix to continue to build our open ecosystem that is transforming the way people access live events.”