Seattle-based startup FastBar headed to Austin for SXSW last week with the intention of powering the payments technology at a concert with The Roots. Instead, they played a key role in helping solve a bomb threat investigation.
FastBar is a 7-person startup that provides a cashless payment platform at events across the country. Anheuser-Busch hired the company for its Saturday night party with The Roots at the Fair Market event venue in Austin, where the annual SXSW festival was held.
Plans quickly changed after a bomb threat email came through FastBar’s support channel on Saturday afternoon. FastBar immediately notified the event organizers, who passed along the information to authorities. Austin has been on high alert after six separate explosions killed two people and wounded at least three others this month. Police scanned the area and found no threat, but Anheuser-Busch decided to cancel the event.