Hello, and welcome back to Inc.'s 1 Smart Business Story. AI isn’t the only game in town. Live entertainment is emerging as a surprising counterweight for VC investment. Breakaway, a touring music festival company, just raised a sizable new round as investors look for bets that don’t live entirely online. Once a tough sell in the wake of Covid, experiential businesses are suddenly benefiting from renewed demand for real‑world connection and a social media culture that rewards being there. Breakaway’s rapid rise hints at a broader shift in how—and where—growth is happening.

In this article you’ll learn:

BY GRAHAM WINFREY, DEPUTY DIGITAL EDITOR

The live events company Breakaway just secured a nine-figure valuation following its Series B funding round.

In the age of AI, consumers may be hungrier than ever for IRL events. While two out of every three venture capital dollars invested last year went to companies in the AI industry, live entertainment appears to be a bright spot among the remaining sectors for investment.

Last week, the live events brand Breakaway raised a $30 million Series B funding round to help grow its touring music festivals and other divisions, including a record label and digital content arm. RSE Ventures, Gross Labs, and Human Ventures invested in the round alongside individual investors such as Honey co-founder George Ruan and Monroe Capital founder Ted Koenig.

The Series B represents Breakaway’s second round of institutional capital in the last four years—having raised a $6 million Series A round in 2022—and gives the company a valuation in the nine figures.

“Raising our Series A coming out of Covid was incredibly challenging,” says Breakaway co-founder Adam Lynn, who took more than 100 meetings during a 12-month period while raising the company’s Series A. “The idea of investing into an experiential company just seemed so far-fetched.” Founded in 2013 in Columbus, Ohio, Breakaway has more than 60 employees and offices in Nashville, Charlotte, Los Angeles, and New York City.

Three years after its Series A round, raising five times as much capital took only two months, which Lynn attributes to consumers’ growing desire for live entertainment and investors hedging against AI and technology bets.

“Live events just seem to be a really hot sector right now,” he says, adding that one byproduct of America’s addiction to social media platforms on smartphones may be a culture of FOMO for live music and other events, where fans can capture and post social media content. “I’ve seen social media really enhance and drive ticket sales.”

Breakaway’s $6 million Series A helped the company expand its presence with music festivals in four markets—Columbus, Grand Rapids, Charlotte, and Nashville—to 14 today. Annual revenue has also increased from around $15 million in 2022 to nearly $70 million last year. Each of the company’s music festivals takes around $3 million to produce.

Breakaway recently announced its first music festival in New York City, which will take place in July at Brooklyn’s Under the K Bridge Park. The company’s larger expansion plans include adding international music festivals throughout Asia in 2027.

“We’re going to take the same approach that we’re taking in the U.S. as we expand internationally,” Lynn says. “We’re not focused on Tokyo or Hong Kong but are looking at underserved markets.” While the company built its festivals around electronic dance music, it plans to branch out into other genres.

“We’re exploring hip hop, country, and Latin music, so that’s where you’ll see a lot of the growth going into next year,” Lynn says.