Espresso Capital provided UPshow, the leading in-venue entertainment and marketing platform that develops interactive digital TV networks with a $10 million venture debt facility. The company will use the funds to make strategic investments in its product development and go-to-market engine.

“There’s never been a better time to help brick and mortar businesses embrace on-premise digital transformation,” says UPshow CEO Adam Hirsen. “We’re seeing increasing demand for our solutions and this capital will help us further accelerate our growth into new markets as we build our brand.”

UPshow is the first and only marketing and engagement platform for out of home venues that delivers hyper-targeted marketing and interactive entertainment alongside a robust suite of analytics tools. The company has created a revolutionary in-venue network that drives customer and employee behaviors and engagement directly from their mobile devices using hyper-relevant and immersive content.

“Adam and his team have developed the leading technology in this space and are changing the way that restaurant, fitness, and health and wellness venues can engage with customers, patients, and employees,” said Espresso Capital Director Mark Gilbert. “UPshow is disrupting a very large market and we believe it is on course to enjoy very strong growth as it expands into new markets and replaces traditional systems.”

Prior to the pandemic, the Chicago-based business began creating private digital TV networks to engage employees. In the wake of the pandemic, retail businesses have seen unprecedented workforce challenges, high turnover, and difficulties with training and engagement. As a result, UPshow’s Back-of-House Employee Engagement product has seen growing interest from big QSR hospitality brands that employ large, distributed, and deskless workforces. UPshow is currently progressing pilot programs in this area with Burger King, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dunkin Donuts.

“We’re delighted to see the progress that UPshow is making as it expands its service offerings to include employee engagement,” said Dan Malven, Managing Director at 4490 Ventures, who led UPShow’s Series A round. “Partnering with an innovative and trusted capital provider like Espresso to help accelerate that progress made total sense.”

“It’s been great working with Espresso,” said Hirsen. “We’ve had a close relationship with them for years and appreciate that they’re strategic partners who truly understand our business and the market opportunity we’re going after. Not only that, the non-dilutive venture debt facility from Espresso will improve our strategic flexibility and help us maximize enterprise value.