SeatGeek co-founders, Russ D’Souza, Jack Groetzinger, and Eric Waller, Photo via SeatGeek.

SeatGeek upped its stature in the ticketing industry on Tuesday with a $57 million investment and acquisition of Israeli startup TopTix.

The Series D investment, led by Glynn Capital, enabled SeatGeek to acquire TopTix, which powers ticketing technology for 500 clients in 16 countries and processes 80 million tickets per year.

The deal will help SeatGeek expand SeatGeek Open, its primary ticketing platform that is taking on Ticketmaster. SeatGeek Open lets artists and teams sell tickets directly within other apps and websites, versus a closed system that restricts how people buy and transfer tickets.

“TopTix has by far the best backend primary ticketing technology in the world, and we humbly believe that at SeatGeek we have created what is easily the best user experience,” SeatGeek co-founder Jack Groetzinger said in a statement. “Combining these two platforms together allows SeatGeek to deliver the most powerful — and only open — 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.”

Founded in 2009, SeatGeek started as a secondary market ticket aggregator but has since turned its focus on the primary market. The company is the official ticketing partner of the MLS and now employs more than 250 people across nine offices worldwide after this acquisition.

Existing SeatGeek investors Accel, Causeway Media Partners, Haystack Partners, Mousse Partners, and Technology Crossover Ventures also participated in the Series D round. Total funding in SeatGeek is now $160 million.

“As anyone who has spent time in the entertainment industry knows, ticketing is a pain point for teams, artists, venues, and their fans,” David Glynn of Glynn Capital said in a statement. “We believe that SeatGeek, strengthened by TopTix, is providing a better option through an innovative business model and best-in-class technology, and we think that’s the key to turning a massive industry on its head.”

Editor’s note: SeatGeek co-founder Russ D’Souza will be speaking at the GeekWire Sports Tech Summit on June 22. Get your tickets here.

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