LONDON (CelebrityAccess) – London-based festival travel portal Festicket has acquired ticketing and cashless point-of-sale platform Event Genius along with its consumer-facing brand, Ticket Arena.
The acquisition will result in a new offering called Event Genius by Festicket – an end-to-end platform for organizers and fans to provide the most complete offering in the live entertainment industry. The platform will bring together technology and expertise including ticketing, accommodation, travel & packages, marketing, data insights & analytics, access control, POS and cashless payment services, fan engagement tools and more.
Founded in 2012 by Zack Sabban and Jonathan Younes, the fast-growing Festicket helps fans book festival trips around the world with its network of more than 2,000 festival organizers — including Coachella, Tomorrowland and Reading & Leeds — and nearly 6,000 accommodation and travel suppliers.
Meanwhile, Event Genius, which was founded by Reshad Hossenally, offers complete event solutions to some of Europe’s best-known events including Wales Rally GB, Motion Bristol, Annie Mac’s Lost & Found Festival, Summer Daze, Ibiza Rocks and BPM Festival.
Commenting on the acquisition, Sabban said: “In Event Genius, we have found a company that shares our mission to be a disruptive force in the live entertainment market and — ultimately — to bring the best possible experiences to fans.”
Hossenally, who will now join Festicket as chief supply chain officer, added: “The Event Genius mission has always been to utilise technology to bring event organisers and consumers a better experience, regardless of the size or type of event. Couple this with Festicket’s global marketplace and supplier network and we have something truly unique for the events industry.”
To date, Festicket, Event Genius and Ticket Arena have together served over 4.5 million customers across more than 120 countries.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
