A music experiences company based in London has crashed into administration less than four months after raising £115 million in Series C funding.
Pollen, which rebranded from Verve recently, uses data to develop unique experiences for customers via travel and music providers. It has partnered with some of the world’s biggest music festivals and brands – including We Are FSTVL, Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Electric Zoo and Live Nation – and created travel experiences featuring artists including Justin Bieber.
Founded in 2014 by brothers Callum and Liam Negus-Fancey with a heavy presence in the US, it claimed to have enjoyed stellar growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
However its parent company Streetteam Software recently brought in Goldman Sachs in an attempt to find a buyer after it failed to pay vendors and employees, while customers were also reportedly left out of pocket over refunds for cancelled events.
An email from Callum Negus-Fancey to employees said the process had not been successful, according to Sifted, and therefore Streetteam would be restructuring.
Pointing to reduced M&A activity and the market’s new focus on profitability, he wrote: “We were not considered a big enough priority to buy in this climate, even by companies who had tried to buy us for significantly more money previously.
“I am sorry that I wasn’t able to close a deal in which we sold the business in its entirety and kept the whole company together.”
The company had only received bids for its consumer-facing subsidiary, including Pollen. Its college travel business, most active in the US, will become an independent entity.
Pollen is backed by the government’s Future Fund. Its most recent funding round featured Kindred, Lansdowne Partners, Northzone, Sienna Capital, Backed and Molten Ventures.
The company had raised over $100m VC funding prior to that round.