Red Light Investment in Satisfi Labs' AI-Powered Fan Service Platform Signals Expansion Into Live Music

According to Satisfi Labs' CEO and co-founder Don White, the New York-based company's AI platform builds brand-specific "deep knowledge bases" that surpass today's typical search engines and virtual assistants to answer customer questions on-demand in a manner not found elsewhere.   

Jason Weinstock, executive vp of Red Light tells Billboard the leading independent artist management firm chose to invest in Satisfi after "we became satisfied with its ability to service customers in and around our industry in a way that we weren’t able to do previously." In addition to answering fans' questions in real time, Weinstock says, "the platform teaches us critical information about our fans -- data that allows us to cater to their needs, including enabling ticketing, merchandise and food and beverage sales.   

In more specific terms, White explains that the technology would be accessed through a concert venue or music festival's website or app via chatbot, voice-activated and other touchpoints. It could, hypothetically, enable a fan to buy a ticket, find the best parking spaces relative to the location of their seat, order food or beverage to be delivered to them, tell them where the closest restroom was and facilitate the purchase of merch that could then be delivered straight to the ticketholder's home. "We would remove the barrier of getting to the merch table," he says. And those are just the basics. This year, for example, baseball fans will be able to use the technology via a Major League team's website or app to ask questions about a specific player or request his statistics during gameplay.  

Since Satisfi Labs was founded in 2016 it has been a partner with MLB and the company's fan engagement technology is currently used by more than 20 baseball teams and in partnerships with the NFL, NBA, NHL and Minor League Baseball. "We use questions to create knowledge," says White, who explains that when Satisfi partners with a brand, "we accumulate knowledge through sources -- through its websites, through its employees -- and put it in one place. Concertgoers seeking answers to their questions would direct them to the event or venue's website, chatbot or phone app, and, says White, through those questions, the event operator starts to learn about the preferences of the people coming. 

Satisfi is currently rolling out its technology across the country -- as well as in international markets -- and White expects to announce specific events, venues and festivals that will employ the platform. He says that for the time being, Satisfi is focused on live events, "but we've already started meeting with artist representation" to discuss how the platform could be used in conjunction with, for example, a musical act's website for tour ticketing and merch sales. He declined to discuss specifics, saying, "You’ll be hearing some more about that."

Weinstock declined to divulge the amount of Red Light's investment, but, along with Major League baseball, their additional backing brings Satisfi's total funding to $6 million. Pre-existing investors including Stadia Ventures, hedge fund titan and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Broadw.ai, a consortium of Broadway producers and theater owners.

Earlier in March, Red Light's founder Coran Capshaw invested in London's Chess Club Records.