Poolhouse, a Tech-Infused Pool Hall Start-up, Raises $55 Million

Making a centuries-old game flashier and easy to play in a group already produced a big business in the golf simulator experience Topgolf, which at its peak sold in a deal valued at about $2 billion.The British entrepreneurs who created Topgolf are now betting that they can apply that same playbook to pool.The result is Poolhouse, a two-year-old start-up that two months ago opened a two-story, 21,000-square-foot bar in London, but aims to make its technology available far beyond its own pool halls.The start-up plans to announce on Friday that it has raised $55 million in a new funding round to finance that growth, led by the investment firm Bluestone Equity Partners.(The financing values the start-up at more than $100 million, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who wasn’t authorized to publicly disclose the information.)Underlying Poolhouse’s business is a bet that cue sports, which the company says draw hundreds of millions of players worldwide each week, is ripe for an overhaul, just as golf was.“If we could emulate what Topgolf achieved, then I think we’ll certainly be on the right track to make our own dent in the sport,” Andrew O’Brien, Poolhouse’s chief executive, said in an interview.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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