Amusement Connect LLC (“Amusement Connect”) announced it has received a strategic investment by Periscope Equity (“Periscope”). Amusement Connect is a category leading cashless specialty payment solutions provider, purpose-built for the amusement industry. Periscope is a Chicago-based private equity firm that partners with founder-owned, business services companies. This transaction is the successful culmination of an initiative led by Bigelow LLC.
Amusement Connect was co-founded by industry veteran Frank Licausi and automotive executive and engineer John Tarpley, long-time friends who recognized an underserved market within route operators and smaller, independent family entertainment centers (“FECs”). Headquartered in Kansas City, Amusement Connect now serves more than 800 unique customers and 3,000+ locations across FECs, arcades, bowling centers, skating rinks, bar-cades, and restaurants.
The company’s award-winning cashless card system pairs reliable, modern hardware with a cloud-native software suite — including game card readers, kiosks, POS, redemption management, analytics, and mobile payment capabilities — to simplify operations, improve the guest experience, and increase revenue for venue operators. Differentiated by rapid installation, intuitive software, competitive pricing, and U.S.-based customer support, Amusement Connect has become a preferred choice for route operators and venue owners nationwide. The company’s newest product, MobileMech, is a low-cost mobile-payment device that enables digital payments on legacy coin-operated machines, unlocking new growth in micro-venues and unattended environments.
“Looking ahead, this partnership is about accelerating what we build for our customers,” said Co-Founder John Tarpley. “We have spent the last several years engineering an award-winning cashless platform — from our card readers and kiosks to our cloud-based software and our new MobileMech device. Periscope gives us the resources to push product innovation even further and faster. Our customers will see the benefit in better tools, more features, and the same dependable U.S.-based support they count on every day.”
“As a longtime route operator and family entertainment center owner, I saw a clear market opportunity. Route Operators and smaller FECs couldn’t access the technology systems that larger FECs had, resulting in owners leaving revenue on the table and struggling to maximize profitability for their venues. John and I set out to bridge the gap and drive innovation in specialty payment solutions for the entire amusement industry, and we’re excited to say we’ve made an impact. We’re proud of what we’ve created, and we’re thrilled to have Periscope’s support in our next chapter.” Frank Licausi, Co-Founder Amusement Connect LLC
Periscope Equity is a Chicago-based private equity firm that partners with founder-owned, business services companies. Since its founding in 2012, Periscope has a track record of investing in businesses with mission-critical service offerings, a history of sustainable profitability and known avenues to accelerate growth. In alignment with management teams, Periscope seeks to provide operational and commercial support to drive investment returns.
John and Frank will be moving forward with Amusement Connect as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Customer & Brand Officer, respectively, in partnership with longtime President Tom Jayroe. Periscope will support Amusement Connect in accelerating new product development, strengthening its sales and marketing capabilities, and expanding into new markets, with the goal of international growth.
“John and Frank have already established Amusement Connect as a trusted leader in payment solutions for the amusement industry nationwide, and we see tremendous global potential. The business checks every box in Periscope's mandate: founder-led, tech-enabled, mission-critical to its customers, and offers a wide variety of achievable value creation levers. We're proud to back a company with such a strong reputation for innovation and customer service, and we are excited for the growth ahead.” Joe McIlhattan, Principal Periscope Equity
Originally established in 1935, Bigelow LLC is widely known as the M+A Advisory Boutique that deals exclusively with private Entrepreneur Owner-Managers. Bigelow has a reputation for having a unique understanding of the special requirements of the owner-managed, entrepreneurial operating company in building and ultimately capturing Enterprise Value.
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