Side Door Access, a Halifax company that's building a network of hosts for private house concerts, is celebrating its growth by moving into spanking new offices in the expanded Volta Labs on Barrington Street.

CEO Laura Simpson's home in the North End has been the venture's home during its first year.

The company's first-year milestones include hiring more staff, making strides in developing its technology and organizing more than 130 house shows across Canada, including for Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta!

In terms of funding, the company raised around $200,000 from friends, family, angel investors and Innovacorp, and an additional $100,000 through the Creative Industries Fund and a non-profit called FACTOR.

With over 400 artists signed up for its services, Side Door is building its technology to manage customer growth. The next phase of product development is a software that would automatically match a host to an artist.

“Our sort of ‘secret sauce’ is to match a host with an artist like a Tinder-style match,” said Simpson. “Someone can say, ‘I really dig jazz music and have a space for seated concerts, have a dog and can only do afternoon events,’ and we’d go out and send you options that meets that criteria.”

Side Door took on a full-time developer in February to build the automatic booking portal and, according to Simpson, he’s been burning through the “scaffolding” of the software, simplifying the matching and booking process.  

Simpson also runs The Syrup Factory, a Halifax house concert venue, from her home. She said it’s Side Door’s mission to ensure that intimate concerts at small venues benefit the performer.  

The company generates revenue through ticket sales, which hosts set at a $15 dollar minimum. Side Door ensures that 80 to 90 percent of the revenue goes back to the artist.

“Usually the artist is the last to get paid,” said Simpson. “They’ll pay out the merch person, the door person, the venue gets a cut, the sound guy gets a cut, you have to pay gas and by the end of the day the artist is the last.”

Simpson said she wants to start bringing in acts outside of music, like stand up comedy or theatre performances. She said Side Door is hosting a live podcast tour for the Polaris Music Prize in Hamilton, Ontario.

She said the industry is changing and artists rely on making money through live shows. She hopes her business can help offset those overhead costs.

“The money isn’t there in the industry anymore, artists can’t make money off of record sales like they used to.”