When the Gathering Spot opened its doors in 2016 after a friends and family round, founders Ryan Wilson (Atlanta via Arkansas) and TK Petersen (U.S Virgin Islands - St. Croix) weren’t sure what would happen next. Their first investor was Ryan’s first boss from the call center where he worked in high school. His second investor was his father. Since 2016, TGS has catapulted from a beautiful shell to a living showcase of community earning national headlines in Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Inc., Black Entrepreneur, Ebony, and USA Today.
It's hosted events for companies like Delta, Netflix and Google, for entertainers like T.I, Cardie B and Ludacris, and for political leaders like Stacey Abrams and Andrew Young.
“Atlanta has a distinct history of driving cultural transformation. Valor invested in The Gathering Spot’s early success in creating a modern cultural medium,” said Lisa Calhoun, Valor Ventures GP. “We’re excited about investing to fuel their continued growth in the digital as well as physical realm.”
“The Gathering Spot chose Valor Ventures as our first venture capital investor,” says Ryan Wilson, co-founder. “Valor is the type of firm that takes the time to truly understand your business and work with you to help it grow. As we enter this new phase of growth we couldn’t be more excited to work with them, as we know this is the type of firm that will help us achieve our goals."
The Gathering Spot’s growth past a thousand paying members, hundreds of corporate and celebrity relationships, and over 4,000 events happened in under three years. They achieved several million in recurring revenue and field a team of 80 to grow their unique platform to catalyze the community through experiences digital and physical:
The early scale of The Gathering Spot suggests it is far more than just a successful club franchise, and more of a true media brand. With daily emails, daily events, and a synergy unique to its membership, it feels like what the founders name it--a movement. As the home of Turner, CNN, Tyler Perry and Martin Luther King, Atlanta provides roots in media and cultural iconography the two founders are drawing from thoughtfully. Future locations, including LA and DC, also have legacies to ground their expanding culture.
Valor noted the media acquisitions market is in unprecedented acquisitions spree driven by how disintermediating the purely digital space has become. For example, just in 2018, there were over 300 billion in media acquisitions, including AT&T acquired Time Warner for $85.4 billion; Disney acquire 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion; Broadcom agreeing to buy CA; ATT&T acquiring AppNexus; The Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff buying Time Magazine, and more.
The Gathering Spot stands out in its competitive cohort of clubs-as-curated for the new urban upwardly mobile millennial. Other companies like TGS include the Riveter, which raised $20 million for women’s co-working, and The Wing, which has raised just at $117 million and includes investors like Sequoia, Upfront and WeWork. Here’s Valor’s list of over 80 coworking companies across the globe who’ve raised over 500K.
Valor looks forward to supporting Ryan and TK on their adventure ahead, as they scale their movement to new cities and weave it together with a compelling digital platform.
It's hosted events for companies like Delta, Netflix and Google, for entertainers like T.I, Cardie B and Ludacris, and for political leaders like Stacey Abrams and Andrew Young.
“Atlanta has a distinct history of driving cultural transformation. Valor invested in The Gathering Spot’s early success in creating a modern cultural medium,” said Lisa Calhoun, Valor Ventures GP. “We’re excited about investing to fuel their continued growth in the digital as well as physical realm.”
“The Gathering Spot chose Valor Ventures as our first venture capital investor,” says Ryan Wilson, co-founder. “Valor is the type of firm that takes the time to truly understand your business and work with you to help it grow. As we enter this new phase of growth we couldn’t be more excited to work with them, as we know this is the type of firm that will help us achieve our goals."
The Gathering Spot’s growth past a thousand paying members, hundreds of corporate and celebrity relationships, and over 4,000 events happened in under three years. They achieved several million in recurring revenue and field a team of 80 to grow their unique platform to catalyze the community through experiences digital and physical:
The early scale of The Gathering Spot suggests it is far more than just a successful club franchise, and more of a true media brand. With daily emails, daily events, and a synergy unique to its membership, it feels like what the founders name it--a movement. As the home of Turner, CNN, Tyler Perry and Martin Luther King, Atlanta provides roots in media and cultural iconography the two founders are drawing from thoughtfully. Future locations, including LA and DC, also have legacies to ground their expanding culture.
Valor noted the media acquisitions market is in unprecedented acquisitions spree driven by how disintermediating the purely digital space has become. For example, just in 2018, there were over 300 billion in media acquisitions, including AT&T acquired Time Warner for $85.4 billion; Disney acquire 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion; Broadcom agreeing to buy CA; ATT&T acquiring AppNexus; The Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff buying Time Magazine, and more.
The Gathering Spot stands out in its competitive cohort of clubs-as-curated for the new urban upwardly mobile millennial. Other companies like TGS include the Riveter, which raised $20 million for women’s co-working, and The Wing, which has raised just at $117 million and includes investors like Sequoia, Upfront and WeWork. Here’s Valor’s list of over 80 coworking companies across the globe who’ve raised over 500K.
Valor looks forward to supporting Ryan and TK on their adventure ahead, as they scale their movement to new cities and weave it together with a compelling digital platform.
Location: United States, Georgia, Atlanta
Employees: 51-200
Founded date: 2016
Investors 1
| Date | Name | Website |
| - | Valor Vent... | valor.vc |
Mentions in press and media 6
| Date | Title | Description |
| 23.05.2023 | 2nd Annual Black Travel Expo Assembles Travel Consumers, Industry Leaders, Expats, And Creators In Atlanta | 2023 Black Travel Expo Flyer For the second year, the Black Travel Expo (BTE) is hosting its annual conference to bring together travel consumers and industry leaders. ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA, May 23, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- For the second ... |
| 05.08.2022 | Why an Atlanta-based Black influencer collective swapped their collab house for a studio | From Los Angeles to Silicon Valley, a trend emerged among social media influencers and startup founders alike: move into a mansion with 10 or so collaborators, work day and night together to build fame and wealth, and hope that your new roo... |
| 15.07.2022 | Crystal Khalil & Dr. Nicole LaBeach to Present at The Gathering Spot ATL Soulmate Panel on July 18 | Duo to present on relationships and more during member and public event As Atlanta-based business women, we are thrilled to be speaking at The Gathering Spot ATL as a way to provide information and inspire this influential business communit... |
| 09.09.2021 | Here’s how membership club The Gathering Spot is building community among DC professionals | For The Gathering Spot (TGS) cofounder and CEO Ryan Wilson, college had a particularly large impact. He went into business with his Georgetown University roommate and married a fellow alum. But it was the sense of community that he took int... |
| 25.08.2021 | CarpeDM is launching its dating app for Black women this fall | For CarpeDM cofounders Sali Hama and Naza Shelley, the knowledge that Black women have a harder time on dating apps is not new information. But it was finding specific research that showed how strong relationships can ultimately provide eco... |
| 29.08.2019 | A VC expert explains 3 inevitable forces rebooting venture capital right now Seed stage drives pulse for venture capital returns New places competing for venture capital's next HQ New faces driving... | Atlanta is set to become one of the next VC headquarters. Sean Pavone/Shutterstock This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Redeem now Lisa Calhoun is founding general partner at V... |