DICE Acquires Boiler Room After $122M Funding Round

Boiler Room #69, celebrating the release Of Radiohead
Caitlin Mogridge/Redferns – Boiler Room #69, celebrating the release Of Radiohead
Thom Yorke of Radiohead on the decks, Oct. 11, 2011 in London, UK.

Music discovery and ticketing platform DICE announced the acquisition of the pioneering underground and electronic music live streaming platform Boiler Room for an undisclosed sum.

The combination of DICE’s “curated discovery technology and ticketing capabilities with Boiler Room’s extensive and unique music programming, will offer “the best live and livestream fan experiences,” according to the announcement.
The two platforms aim to “work together to enhance Boiler Room’s offering and drive additional revenue to artists, rights holders, collectives, festivals and clubs, providing the tools and solutions to help partners and creators thrive in the challenging and ever changing music ecosystem.”
Phil Hutcheon, founder and CEO of DICE, commented: “I’ve been a fan of Boiler Room for years and they’re world leading in bringing incredible experiences to fans. Blaise [Boiler Room CEO] and I have been discussing for over a year how to support artists better and the more we spoke, the more excited we were to work together. The combination of Boiler Room with the distribution and technology of DICE creates substantial opportunities in a sustainable, transparent and fair model.”
Phil Hutcheon.
 – Phil Hutcheon.
Founder and CEO of DICE.

Blaise Belville, Boiler Room founder, commented: “DICE has built an incredible platform by being laser-focused on creating the best possible experience for fans and event partners – their app now has millions of music fans accessing live music around the world. 

“My experience when talking to Phil was inspiring and he immediately recognised how important Boiler Room is, and how much potential we have. I believe deeply that the best way for Boiler Room to evolve is by partnering with a company that values what we are today, and provides the tools we need to grow into the future – we play to our strengths and they to theirs. 
“DICE’s belief in ‘powering’ us but allowing Boiler Room to remain our own independent entity, all of this will enable us to move into a new era and be the best version of ourselves.”
Boiler Room began over a decade ago, as a webcam taped to a wall, that opened a keyhole into London’s thriving underground. Since 2010, Boiler Room, by its own admission, has built an archive spanning over 8,000 performances by more than 5,000 artists across 200 cities, amplifying underground music globally.
The news of the acquisition follows a $122 million Series C funding round for DICE at the end of September, led by investor SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with further investments from Tony Fadell’s Future Shape, Blisce, French entrepreneur Xavier Niel, Mirabaud Private Equity, Cassius and Evolution. 
The money will be spent on growing the company, hiring new team members, launching an artist development program, and, just like with the Boiler Room acquisition, adding to DICE’s livestream offering.