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Business News Live Business
Ben Lovett’s venue business raises $50 million in new finance
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 23 February 2022
The venue company headed up by Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons – now branded as TVG Hospitality, the TVG bit standing for The Venue Group – has announced it has raised $50 million to expand its team and venue portfolio.
The company is best known to date for its London operations, in particular Omeara and Lafayette and the bars alongside them, plus last year it got involved in The Social too. But it has also been quietly getting itself established in the US. And an existing partnership with the city of Huntsville in Alabama will see the company open the 8000 capacity Orion Amphitheater there later this year.
A wide range of investors – including many from the music industry – are involved in the company’s recent funding round, among them C3 Presents and the Oak View Group.
The latter’s co-founder, Irving Azoff, says: “We are THRILLED to be working with TVG on this next chapter of their venues. Ben and his team are approaching the venue space in exactly the right way – you have to put the artist and the fan at the centre of every thought process. That’s the key and TVG are both artists and fans whilst also knowing a thing or two about hospitality. We hope to support them on their mission in any way we can”.
Lovett adds: “Our passion at TVG, our defining character, is a deep-rooted belief in the value of communal spaces, gathering places where we can be reminded of our common ground and all that makes us human. Music is the ultimate leveller – somewhere between melody and lyric is a truth that calls us away from our phones and out of our living rooms to stand together and sing together”.
“The plans we have in mind are rooted in elevating these experiences surrounding live music”, he goes on. “I am incredibly grateful for the investments from so many of our industry leaders. It furthers cements our belief that our new thinking is going to be game changing for artists, fans and communities alike”.
