{"id":11533,"date":"2026-05-27T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stocks-future.com\/?guid=6b64ca6346327d006092735a4db039e9"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:00:00","slug":"periscope-equity-makes-strategic-investment-in-amusement-connect-a-specialty-payments-platform-for-the-amusement-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/?p=11533","title":{"rendered":"Periscope Equity Makes Strategic Investment in Amusement Connect, a Specialty Payments Platform for the Amusement Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Periscope Equity, a Chicago-based private equity firm, announced today it has invested in Amusement Connect, a leading cashless specialty payment solutions provider, purpose-built for the amusement industry. This investment represents the first platform in Periscope Equity's third fund, which closed last year.<\/p><\/a><\/a>

\nAmusement 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 (\u201cFECs\u201d). 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.<\/p>

\nThe company\u2019s award-winning cashless card system pairs reliable, modern hardware with a cloud-native software suite \u2014 including game card readers, kiosks, POS, redemption management, analytics, and mobile payment capabilities \u2014 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>

\n\u201cJohn 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,\u201d said Periscope Principal Joe McIlhattan. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>

\nPeriscope 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.<\/p>

\n\u201cAs a longtime route operator and family entertainment center owner, I saw a clear market opportunity,\u201d said Amusement Connect Co-Founder Frank Licausi. \u201cRoute Operators and smaller FECs couldn\u2019t 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\u2019re excited to say we\u2019ve made an impact. We\u2019re proud of what we\u2019ve created, and we\u2019re thrilled to have Periscope\u2019s support in our next chapter.\u201d<\/p>

\n\u201cLooking ahead, this partnership is about accelerating what we build for our customers,\u201d continued Amusement Connect Co-Founder John Tarpley. \u201cWe have spent the last several years engineering an award-winning cashless platform \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>

\nJohn 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.<\/p>

\n\u201cI\u2019ve known and partnered with Frank and John for a long time and believe they are incredible industry leaders with a passion for innovation and serving all customers in the space,\u201d said Chairman of AMI Entertainment Mike Maas. \u201cAs a longtime amusement industry leader, I\u2019m excited to team up with Frank and John in this new capacity, as well as the Periscope team, to be a part of the next chapter.\u201d<\/p>

\nThe investment in Amusement Connect was facilitated by Bigelow LLC and made in partnership with Western & Southern Financial Group, which supported the credit financing for the transaction.<\/p>

\nAbout Amusement Connect<\/b><\/p>

\nFounded in 2017 and based in Kansas City, Missouri, Amusement Connect is a leading U.S. cashless game payment solutions platform, serving family entertainment centers, arcades, bowling centers, skating rinks, bar-cades, and restaurants. Amusement Connect integrates modern hardware with a cloud-native software suite \u2014 including game card readers, kiosks, POS, redemption management, analytics, and mobile payment capabilities \u2014 to simplify operations, improve guest experience, and increase revenue. The company is differentiated by its rapid installation, intuitive software, competitive pricing, and U.S.-based customer support. Its newest offering, MobileMech, brings digital payments to legacy coin-operated machines and unattended venues. Learn more at amusementconnect.com<\/a>.<\/p>

\nAbout Periscope Equity<\/b><\/p>

\nPeriscope 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. Learn more at periscopeequity.com<\/a>.<\/p> Contacts<\/b>

\nJan Morris\nMiddleM Creative (on behalf of Periscope Equity)\njmorris@middlemcreative.com<\/a>T 904-210-3302<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Periscope Equity, a Chicago-based private equity firm, announced today it has invested in Amusement Connect, a leading cashless specialty payment solutions provider, purpose-built for the amusement industry. This investment re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infos-businesswire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11534,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11533\/revisions\/11534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}