London’s fan3 raises €4.2 million to address ticket reselling and scalpers

fan3, a British entertainment technology company building a fan-first access platform for live events, today announced it has raised €4.2 million in funding from Improbable – with existing partnerships with artists like Zayn and Pitbull.

“Real fans don’t usually sell their tickets immediately, and we make sure they get them first,” said Ross Taylor, CEO of fan3. “We appreciate some fans at a later date may have plans change and need to resell for unforeseen circumstances. Most non-fan resales happen instantly and we will see which key resells immediately and remove them from the system for good. Improbable’s investment allows us to scale our technology and deepen integrations across the industry, so that artists can own their audiences directly and fans can finally get fair access to the shows they love.”

The live entertainment industry faces mounting challenges. Around half of all ticket inventory is estimated to end up on secondary markets, bot activity is expanding each year, and detection tools that once caught most fraudulent purchases now detect only a fraction. For fans, this results in sell-outs and inflated resale prices. For artists, it means losing visibility of their true audiences.

fan3 looks to address these issues by acting as a gateway – a lock-and-key layer that integrates seamlessly with existing ticketing systems, invisible to buyers yet transformative for fans, artists, and promoters. At the core of the platform is a digital pass that lives in a fan’s phone wallet, claimable in seconds, giving priority access to presales through Ticketmaster, AXS, Eventim, and Etix.

The passes also act as a defence against bots and scalpers, authenticating fans at entry and reducing secondary market leakage.

fan3 uses blockchain technology behind the scenes to securely record fan identity and access data, ensuring authenticity and permanence without adding complexity for users. NFC-enabled wristbands extend the platform into live events, enabling fans to verify attendance, unlock exclusive access, and claim digital rewards.

Together, passes and wristbands create a seamless bridge between live events and ongoing fan engagement. The physical activity recorded in geo locations is also recorded on-chain and increases the verification of real fans as an ongoing process.

“fan3 is directly addressing one of the most pressing challenges in the entertainment sector: ensuring trust between fans, artists, and platforms,” said Herman Narula, CEO of Improbable. “At Improbable, we back ventures that can reshape entire sectors, and fan3’s model for loyalty and access has the potential to set a new global standard in live entertainment. It’s also one of the clearest examples of how crypto can deliver real value by powering fairer and more transparent relationships.”

fan3 was founded in 2021 by music industry veterans Steve Finan, Paul Rose, and Ross Taylor, who have collectively managed global artists with social media followings exceeding 150 million. The company’s technical platform is led by multi-award-winning CTO Richard Rauser.

With a team of seven, fan3 empowers artists with secure, fraud-resistant ticketing, ownership of their fan data, and tools for direct engagement. Its platform integrates smartphone wallet passes, NFT-enabled memorabilia, and smart event tools to cut out scalping and deepen direct connections between artists and genuine fans.

The platform has already proven effective. Their fraud prevention heuristics have reportedly reduced tickets reaching secondary platforms to under 5% – an 8.4-fold improvement on the industry average. Current partnerships with global music icons Zayn and Pitbull see a digital fan pass providing presale access, exclusive content, and event privileges.

The funding will be used to expand technical capabilities, grow the team, and extend integrations with ticketing platforms and artist partners, strengthening fan3’s position as a trusted, loyalty-driven gateway for live entertainment.

fan3 has previously secured backing from Republic, Comma Capital, Sera Fund, Alchemy Ventures, Dream Ventures, and Avalanche.

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