MAX (Music Audience Exchange), a Frisco-based music technology company that powers artist brand sponsorships, announced Wednesday that it’s received a new Series B funding round led by Interlock Partners, with continued support from Method Capital.
The amount of the funding was not disclosed.
The company said that the funding will be used for continued development of SET.Live and expansion of its sales and marketing teams to meet growing demand.
“This investment allows MAX to continue fulfilling its mission to automate and digitize artist sponsorships and create a new marketplace for the creator economy,” CEO and founder Nathan Hanks said in a statement.
In 2017, the company said it raised $6 million in funding.
Data-driven marketing automation
The company said it reinvented music x brand partnerships via data-driven marketing automation to better serve brands, artists, and music fans.
Now it says MAX is again at the forefront of innovation as massive pent-up demand brings people back to live events and experiences. The company said it’s adapted to meet the challenges of a changing market, expanding from brand partnerships rooted in live touring to immersive digital experiences.
Partners include Ford, McDonald’s, and more
MAX partners with brands such as Ford, UScellular, McDonald’s, AARP, Gildan, Elavon, and more, and supports a growing portfolio of more than 1,000 artists including Kane Brown, Alan Jackson, Jon Batiste, Leela James, Queen Naija, AJR, Melissa Etheridge, Thomas Rhett, Evanescence, Chris Young, Michelle Branch, Mau Y Ricky, Lecrae, Jimmie Allen, Clint Black, and others with live engagement tools and promotional sponsorships.
With SET.Live, MAX said it has created a new hybrid experience and first-of-its-kind mobile activation platform that brings the digital habits people adopted over the past years to live events, concerts, and festivals.
The SET.Live platform enables artists to directly engage with fans at live shows while creating unique sponsorable assets for brands, the company said.
“Since launching SET.Live earlier this year, we will have powered interactive mobile experiences for nearly 2,000 concerts and shows by the end of 2022,” MAX President Steve Fullbright said in a statement.
Expanding board of directors
MAX said it is expanding its board of directors with the addition of Carl Sparks, managing partner at Interlock, and Elizabeth Brooks, managing partner at Better Angels Ventures and leader in the intersection of music and tech.
“MAX is in a unique position to create a new marketplace that can unlock previously untapped sponsorable inventory for artists and drive more effective marketing campaigns for brands,” Sparks said in a statement.
“I’m excited to be part of MAX’s board and help them with their continued growth,” Brooks added.
Interlock Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm with offices in Dallas and New York. It backs companies driving transformational change in the enterprise technology stack fueled by artificial intelligence, cloud platforms, and other innovative solutions.
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