Facial-authorization tech startup Wicket’s recent hires of Alastair Partington and Jeff Boehm are indicative of the company’s desire to scale its business. Partington joined May 23 as the company’s new president, replacing Ryan Owen, who co-founded Wicket with Sanjay Manandhar and has moved into a position overseeing investor relations and other strategic initiatives. Boehm joined as CMO on April 18 , a new position at the company, one clearly aimed at telling its story better -- and more often.
“The board and the executive team are very keen to scale Wicket,” said Partington, who came from Tascent and has worked in biometrics for over two decades. "It’s been successful so far, but we want to take it to an inflection point.”
While some tech companies in sports use venue deployments as a showcase and lean on other markets for revenue, the sports industry and its venues are Wicket’s primary focus.
The company has facial-authorization tech deployed at venues associated with Haslam Sports Group (the Browns and Crew ), AMB Sports & Entertainment (the Falcons and Atlanta United) and the Mets’ Citi Field for facial ticketing, access control, or credentialing (to know, for example, which fans have access to premium areas). SBJ Tech recently reported that the Falcons got roughly 8,000 opt-ins from season-ticket holders last year to use a Wicket-powered facial-ticketing entrance, and it plans to expand to a second at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this coming season. -- Bret McCormick
