This DC startup is helping event organizers sell tickets

A startup that makes software to help event organizers and promoters has been expanding to other cities.

Event Nation started in 2016 in D.C. and has been working with nightlife and live performance venues, as well as festivals. It counts Bliss Nightclub as an early client. The company’s software looks to provide a single place to get the word out about an event and increase sales, said Sr. Vice President Asad Ali. That means providing services including marketing and ticket sales, as well as providing onsite support.

For the company, it means focusing on three places. For one, there’s reaching people before the event, whether through a website or reaching people on other platforms, said Ali. The company creates custom websites, and can provide email marketing and text alerts. When it comes to clicking “Buy,” the startup also has tools to manage tickets.

The second is the box office at the event itself, where the company provides software to power sales made on the day of an event. It also provides tools to help sell tickets at seated tables at an event, providing the option for customers to see what’s available.

The startup’s clients have varied in style of event, but music is a common theme. Along with Bliss, the company has worked locally with organizers of Taste of Dupont. In the first months of 2018, Ali said the company expanded to New Orleans by working with the teams behind the Louisiana Seafood Festival and Crawfish Mambo Festival. In Miami, it signed on multipurpose venue Studio 23. Ali said the goal is to expand to 10 markets in the near future.

The Georgetown-based company previously closed a $200,000 round of financing early on, and has also been growing with revenue, Ali said. The startup is looking to work with venues or “super-promoters” who are large enough to have a need for a staff to perform multiple functions, but are still independent of the large production companies.