CHEQ is announcing it has raised a seed funding round of $8 million, with investment led by WestRiver Group and participation from Harvard’s Yard Ventures, Flamingo Capital, and others. CHEQ, founded in 2021, has raised a total of $13.4 million so far.
Sports has been critical to growing CHEQ’s brand; the company has deals with the Miami Marlins, Miami Dolphins, Washington Commanders, Tennessee Titans, and University of Washington. CHEQ will use the new funding to onboard more venues, including stadiums and arenas, as well as restaurants, bars and nightclubs, hotels and resorts, and casinos. The round will support product development, adding new resources, hardware and equipment, and overall marketing and promotional support. CHEQ is specifically focused on expansion in Miami, Nashville, and New York, among others.
CHEQ’s social giving function stands out among the many companies competing in the sports venue payments space; the social giving offering allows users to pay for and send drinks to one another for on-premise consumption. But the one-year-old company handles all other forms of on-premise payments, too, including mobile, self-service kiosks, and traditional point-of-sale terminals, in addition to backend payment processing.
